


The Agents of Inkopolis

by DiamondCompass



Series: Octrope’s Mark [1]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Action/Adventure, Brainwashing, But seriously the romance is minor, Gen, Help me how do I tag, Hero Mode (Splatoon), Kidnapping, POV Third Person, Past Brainwashing, Post-Splatoon 2, Some minor romance sub-plot later, am i doing this right, that’s why it’s tagged general
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-30 18:14:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 37
Words: 59,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20101507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiamondCompass/pseuds/DiamondCompass
Summary: Not long after Agent 4 rescues Callie from DJ Octavio, Cap'n Cuttlefish returns from hiding to reveal that Grizzco is run by Octarians! What's more, Agent 3 has been captured! A new leader operates the Octarian race from behind, using tools and others to his advantage. Can the Agents find a way past the Octarians' technological advancements?





	1. Burst of Ink

**Author's Note:**

> So people, I’m new here. I’ve got a story over on FFN and decided to hop over here and upload it again.  
Basically what I’m saying is that I have no idea how anything here works, so if I’m doing anything wrong, please tell me.  
Especially the tag system, I have no idea how it works.

_The Rainmaker..._

_It wasn't meant to be held this long..._

Agent 4 jumped over another spinning punch, then charged another shot.

The Rainmaker was growing hot to the touch, and it felt like it was going to explode in a burst of ink any second.

Octavio mistakenly charged a regular punch no his Octobot. Four smirked, getting ready to take advantage of the opportunity.

She released the charge, and it connected with the fist right as it left its holster. The metal fist spun around, and once the shot exploded, it sent it flying towards the robot. The Octobot's hull groaned under the stress of punching itself yet again.

A puff of steam left its exhaust pipes, then it fell, crashing against the ground with a air-shaking riff.

Four precisely leapt to the Inkrail in front of her, then the next. The Rainmaker was burning.

It took her closer to the Octobot King, with DJ Octavio flailing in the center. She jumped and threw it down, seeing her purple eyes in its reflection for a split second, but before it hit Octavio, it exploded, sending her flying backwards into the arena below.

The ink protected her from the explosion of the Octobot King. It floated upwards in a final attempt to escape, then something inside broke, inflating the entire machine until it blew up. Octavio said something, but it was lost in the deafening noise.

Four emerged from the green ink and stared at the completely green circle at her feet. She pushed a button on her headset. "...It's done... Marie."

Marie, up above on the flying truck, pressed a button on her headpiece, nearly unnoticeable among the elegance of her old uniform. "I know, Four. I'm right here."

She brushed her lopsided hair aside, then walked forward, turning her head to try and find the Great Zapfish. It was flying, up and away through a hole in the roof.

The truck circled around once more before it landed on the arena. "We're good here, Agent 4!" said Sheldon, the master of Ammo Knights. "...I guess you're off for the rest of today?" He looked at the source of a loud conversation between the reunited cousins. They were both sitting down.

Before answering, she saw a glint in the corner of her eye. A black pair of sunglasses, designed differently than the rest she had seen in the past weeks, was sitting near the edge. She went over to them, picked them up, and examined the tool, careful to keep it a small far away from her face as possible. It was the pair of Hypno-Shades that Callie wore just seconds ago.

She took them back to the truck and held them up to Marie. "Sorry to interrupt... this, but what do we do with these?"

Marie squinted, studying them intently while Callie scooted back nervously. Marie took hold on them and stood up. "That's enough of that!" She said, throwing them as hard as she could down to the pit below. She exhaled once and giggled. "Four, can I ask your name now?"

Four shot her gaze around, looking for anyone who could hear. "Rose," she said once.

"Cod, Rose I can't thank you enough for this!" Callie said. "And, uh, sorry about the bombs."

Rose flashed a grin. "They were easy to dodge, if that makes you feel any better." She looked around. "Where's Octavio?"

"In the back, already in the globe," Marie answered. She tapped the top of the truck she sat on. "Sheldon somehow caught him up there while you were staring at literally everything else. And, uh, don't worry. It's soundproof. And locked."

"Alrighty then," Four said. "Am I off the hook for the rest of today? Like Sheldon said?"

"Go ahead," Callie said. "Unless Marie here has anything else for you."

"Leave," Marie said, crossing her arms and smiling warmly. "You're tired. Sleep."

"Good," said Four, realizing she actually was exhausted.. She super jumped back to the entrance of the area, finding a light shining through the kettle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what I’m doing here is pretty much remastering an old work. After this burst of chapters, it’ll take a bit longer to get them up. Sometimes I add or remove chapters from the original, hence the 1/?.  
Right now, it’s got 55, which will definitely change.


	2. Extremely Responsible Rose

Rose's eyes fluttered open as a sliver of sunlight hit them. Her eyes wandered, surveying her apartment. Her building had the same exact layout for everyone: a combined kitchen and living room were outside her small bedroom. The window to her left, the one through which the light shined, had its curtains almost entirely drawn.

Her bed was a mess, but she really didn't care enough to fix it. Or wash the covers unless they were starting to smell bad like it did now; as it turns out, she was drooling.

"Ugh," she muttered. Sleepily, she swung out of bed and pulled the bedsheets with her. The door at the back of the room opened to a laundry machine that could generously fit each of the blankets. Separately, at least. Without noticing, she pulled the entire mattress off the bed frame before the blankets came off.

Rose shoved one blanket in, shut the machine, then wondered if that faint memory of a giant robot she took down was real or just a dream. Then she looked at herself. There was the Hero Suit. Suddenly, the memory wasn't so faint.

On a more alarming matter, the Hero Dualies were still there in their holsters. That was a problem, since they weren't technically hers.

Also, they were stronger than an everyday Splattershot. One hit could splat anyone, but the Octolings from Octo Canyon could survive a few since they had suits. Unlike her Hero Suit, however, once it was gone, so were they.

These types of weapons were illegal in Inkopolis for regular citizens. Especially since Sheldon hadn't gotten them approved yet.

The shock from seeing them woke her up entirely; she shook off the rest of the tiredness, bolted through the kitchen and living room amalgamation, and flung the entrance door open, nearly hitting someone in the process.

"Sorry!" Rose exclaimed, then she turned to run the stairwell.

"Rose," said a familiar voice, stopping her before she got anywhere. "The Dualies, right? You're fine. Sheldon says to keep 'em. You used them so many times, he got all the data he needed. Oh, and keep them out of sight."

Rose turned around warily. Turns out that there were two people she almost hit, but both were disguised. "Marie?" she asked upon hearing the voice. From the looks of it, Marie was the one with the mouth covering, so Callie was probably the one next to her with the sunglasses and beanie.

"And you really shouldn't be wearing your Hero Suit in public. How many times did I already tell you that?"

Just as Marie stopped, Rose started. "Do you live here?" She said slowly, eager to change the topic.

"Wh- Eh, never mind," Marie said. "Yeah, we do. Right there." She pointed with her thumb to the next door over. "Makes it hard to avoid the media if you live in a mansion or something, so I got this place. Anyway, we're heading out for Inkopolis Square for a reunion battle, wanna come with?"

Rose blinked as she processed that. She leaned with her back against the wall. "So, do we coincidentally live next to each other or are you stalking me?"

"And how would that go for us if the media found out?" Callie said. Yeah, that was her voice. "Or her, I guess, since I was kinda out of the loop for a while. You coming or not?"

These two are taking this so casually.

"You know what, fine. Let me go... uh... change," Rose dropped off. "Go on ahead, I'll meet you there!" She said, slamming the door as she stepped back into her apartment.

Marie sighed. "Every single time with that Suit..."

* * *

A reticle appeared right in the middle of the two arrow story on the pavement. Shortly after, Rose landed on it, wearing a t-shirt and a pair of sunglasses.

"...and those two took over after that." Marie said, holding a finger up to the big screen on Deca Tower. "Is there anything else I'm missing? Oh, Rose. Hey. I've been catching her up." She leaned in closer. "I forgot to tell you our public names earlier. I'm Rie and she's Lie. 'Cause it's like the second syllables of our names."

Callie stepped back and stared at everything. "Yeah, that's almost it. But what's over there?" Pointing a finger at an area to the left of Deca Tower, Callie looked at both of them.

Marie squinted at the place. "...I have no idea. Never been there, but I've stared at it a lot while standing on the Manhole. Rose, you know?"

"That's... uh..." she snapped her fingers, racking her mind for a name. "Grizzco! Grizzco. Been there once, then decided it was too sketch. By the way, what are we doing?"

"I'm a bit rusty," Callie admitted, "so probably just a Turf War for now."

Rose took a deep breath. "Alright then!" She yelled with a sudden burst of energy. "Let's go!"


	3. Public Revelation

Callie peered down the roof of Moray Towers upon emerging from the spawn point. "Does everyone still hate this stage?"

"I think so." Marie replied. "Don't see why, though. This place makes getting splatted that much more costly."

"Alright, Rie, Lie. What's our plan?" Rose said.

"I'll take the ramps going down," said Callie. "Got the Roller to cover that. Rie, take the high ground?"

"On it. Man, if only Simon was here. He'd make this a full team."

"Simon?" Rose asked. "Is that..." She peeked to make sure the fourth guy wasn't listening. "Agent 3? The one that smells bad?" She whispered.

Marie nodded. "That's him. He's on a mission with Gramps, the captain. We haven't seen him since he went to fight that one highly-trained Octoling in Octo Valley. I'm sure he's fine though. The mission was mostly secret anyway."

Rose felt a bit concerned despite that. She had seen personally what Octarians were capable of.

Out of the blue, a clap from the speakers on the side of the buildings sounded. The match started.

Since Rose had Dapple Dualies, she could quicken her descent by dodge-rolling midair. She would have been the first to reach the center, but she pivoted to the right, aiming both Dualies forward.

* * *

Callie, from the top, turned to roll over the ramps and charge her special, but she didn't know what it was.

It's symbol was on the button on the bottom of the weapon's handle, like it always was. But, however, she didn't recognize the symbol.

By the time she reached the bottom, it was charged, so she decided to hit the button.

"Whoa!" She exclaimed. "Rose, what's this?!"

Rose emerged from behind cover and shot over it. "Baller! Head up the enemy ramp! I'll follow you!"

Like always, the Turf War was very fast-paced. Callie followed Rose's instructions and rolled up the enemy side.

Once the two got to the wall to the left, they split. Callie kept going up the ramp while Rose climbed the wall. The Baller exploded before it could get much farther, much to Callie's surprise.

Rose reached the top of the wall, then found an enemy waiting for her. She rolled to his left just as a Splat Bomb left his hand. It tumbled down to the floor below, right next to Callie.

"Watch out!" Rose yelled as she splatted the enemy with a barrage of ink from her Dualies

Callie dove back down, dodging the explosion, but had a bad landing. She caught herself with her arms, but her sunglasses fell off. Callie was unmasked.

A loud gasp came from everyone that could see.

It occurred to Rose that the Squid Sisters hadn't publicly announced that they're fine. She wanted to say something, but no words came to mind.

Wasting no time, Callie frantically reached for her sunglasses, put them on, and super jumped away before anyone could swarm her.

Marie growled. "We're so getting banned for this," she murmured, then jumped after her.

A whistle sounded, signifying the match's end. Since one team had two more players then the other, the match was automatically cancelled due to the system detecting a heavily one-sided battle.

Rose, with nothing left to do, returned to Deca Tower. She super jumped from the enmy's side back to the spawn point, and it opened up to a tunnel leading back to the lobby. She swam through the dimly-lit tunnel. There were no turns since it led straight to Inkopolis Square.

Upon swimming out of the hole, she looked at the screen in the corner of room. "CANCELLED", it said. At least she wouldn't get penalized.

"Yeah, I had a feeling," said the other person in the lobby.

Rose turned around. "Feeling about what?"

"That they've returned. The Squid Sisters. Marie's eyes gave it away. That, and the Charger," he smiled, showing a flashy beak. "Name's Sid."

"Rose," she said. Sid looked older than she was, taller and more mature-looking. His hair was combed back, and he had an overall lanky build. "How could you tell those two were the real deal from just those two things?"

"Their playstyle was familiar to me. Marie's big on camping. It gets annoying sometimes, but only for the other team." He paused, leaning on his Brush. "That... makes me sound like a stalker. I've played matches with them before. I used to be part of the backstage staff for their concerts. At least until Callie... yeah, you get the point. Then Marie soon after..."

Rose sat down on the couch. "Well, I guess there's no need to worry now. I've never met someone so close to them before." Except for herself. "Wanna go a few more?"


	4. Agent 3 and Grizzco

Callie and Marie's apartment had two separate rooms for each of them. Since she just moved in, Callie's was quite bland.

"You kept my phone for me?" Callie squealed. "You always knew I'd be here again, huh?" She was happier about the notion than the phone itself, though.

Marie poked her head through the doorway. "Yeah, of course I did. What else was I supposed to do with it?" She turned back to her own room. "Now help me pick out another disguise." A sound of fumbling clothes came from her room.

Callie shouted to her from across the hall so she could hear. "Why do you need it? It was my disguise that fell off, not yours."

"Ah. Yeah, that too." Marie pulled something out of her pocket. "I got this on the way back. It's one of those stretchy things that you stick onto a pair of glasses so they don't fall off and that nobody knows the name of." She tossed it to Callie, and she swiped it out of the air.

"How about we just switch disguises?" Callie said.

The fumbling stopped. "...It's not great, but it would work for now. Toss me that stretchy thing again and _okay_ I just got a message from gramps."

"Whoa, wait, what?" Callie rushed down the short hall and turned into Marie's room. It was also quite bland, but her reason was that she spent most of her time looking for her cousin.

"Take a look at this," Marie said.

* * *

Rose stepped out of Deca Tower's ground floor, tired from several more matches. She took her Dualies, spun them around on her fingers, and holstered them by her waist.

She looked around and took a deep breath. The thrill of a Turf War was nice, but the unexpectedly tranquil hustle and bustle of Inkopolis Square was a nice change. She stepped out of the rotunda and instantly saw a someone wearing a lime green hoodie, a pink beanie, and sunglasses. It was undoubtedly Marie.

She closed the distance between them with something between a walk and a jog. "You know, if you're gonna be wearing neon, the disguise kinda loses its thing."

Without even regarding her comment, she announced, "Get your stuff. We just got a message from the captain."

She froze in place.

_The captain?_

A second passed, but time seemed to freeze as she processed the statement "On it." It was technically her job. As the world started moving again, she super jumped to the front of her building and walked into the lobby, trying to hide her rush. She took the elevator to her floor and turned right to her room. After a frantic minute, she had her Dualies replaced with the Hero Dualies and her clothes with the Hero Suit.

From there, Rose left her apartment slowly this time to prevent any unwanted injuries and climbed up several flights of stairs to the top floor.

She super jumped again to an area directly behind Inkopolis Square that nobody had a reason to go to and navigated her way to the alley holding Grizzco. The secret agent stood against the wall right in front of Grizzco's entrance, and when she was sure that nobody was looking, jumped into the grate leading to Octo Canyon.

She sealed the grate with a metal lid from below that attached perfectly onto it, then took the plunge into the underground pathway to her destination.

After the uneventful swim, she saw both Agents 1 and 2. Callie and Marie. Except they swapped disguises.

But a third character, some old guy in rags and a hat, was what she was focused on. Rose assumed it was the Captain and their grandfather, but he looked distressed, leaning against the shack in the middle of the area. He seemed... frail. Both of the others were huddled around him.

She almost said something, then decided it would be better not to. Two backed up to her. "We just told him what happened."

"I figured," Four remarked. "D- Do you know why he messaged us? How'd you get the message?"

"Communicator. Like a phone but smaller and only texting and voice mail." She pulled something out of her pocket, never removing her eyes from Cap'n Cuttlefish.

Rose assumed it was the communicator she mentioned, since it did look like a small phone.

"We'll get you one of these later," Two continued. She cleared her throat a sinus she returned it to her pocket. "Captain." She was using a flat tone. "We can do this later. Why did you call us here?"

He regained his balance. Putting his cane on the ground, he stood back up. "Yes... I guess you're right." He moved toward Four, but his gait was strained. "This is Agent 4, right?" He didn't stop for confirmation before he saluted her. "Thank you for... your... service."

The salute itself seemed oddly informal. He was still pretty distraught, but she couldn't help that now.

"Grizzco," he started abruptly, "is run by the Octarians."

The shift in subject was a bit fast, but they knew what the place was. It was right outside of the manhole, only open half the time. Four had never worked there since her income stemmed from the people watching the battles she took part in. She'd been there once, though, and as soon as the wooden bear started talking, she left.

Strangely, people paid good money for it. She wasn't even one of the famous ones.

"That's all we figured out," he said. Something else was on his mind, that much was obvious.

"That can't be it," Two said. "You were gone for months."

_Sheesh,_ thought Four, _hit the brakes there, he just found out his other granddaughter was brainwashed._

"Also. Agent 3 was kidnapped," he said. "I... I couldn't do anything. I tried to look for him, but nothing came up."

Four was genuinely surprised. She'd heard a lot of good things about him through Marie, now going by "Two". But her reactions were less emotive than One, who gasped loudly and yelled something too fast to be comprehensible. Then, "A lab. I... saw him somewhere! He was... asleep, didn't see me. B-but I saw him!"

Too much information was being fed to Four. To them, she was still the newbie, so this was overwhelming her. "Slow down. You remembered something? Is that possible?"

"...Apparently," said Two.

"I-I don't know! I just... never thought of him in that kind of place, and then I did, and then..." She trailed off, but the pain in her eyes was visible.

"...It's not much," said Four, "but we can start by looking where she was caught."

The strange, old captain went to her. "You've got a good head on your shoulders. Most would be afraid to say something. Here, take this." He pulled another communicator from his own pocket.

"Well, I guess not later..." Two muttered.

"Before looking for that place," Cap'n Cuttlefish started, "can you infiltrate Grizzco? We were investigating it, or at least its early stages. It wasn't official yet."

Four spoke up again. "Then that's two different potential leads. We should try Grizzco first, we know it has time limits, and I think it'll open in a couple of minutes."

"Good idea," remarked One, "but what will we use for backup if our weapons end up taken for... safety, I guess?"

Two thought for a bit. "I've seen a new model of weapon circulating recently. They call them 'Brellas' and they're pretty slim. I guess you could hide them in a jacket or something, unlike the bulky things. Four, those Dualies are already tiny, would those work?"

"Yup!" She asserted, "I can hold them inside the jacket from the front pocket."

"Prep was minimal," Two asserted, "but we'll be fine. We're posing as employees, right? Shall we head out now?"

Cap'n Cuttlefish agreed, then all three of them moved back to the man hole. "A-Agent 1!" He exclaimed, "are you sure? You just..."

She moved in closer to his ear. "Don't worry, Gramps," she whispered. "I'll be fine. I have backup now, don't I?" She moved back away, leaving the other two to wonder what she said. But she whispered because she called him "Gramps."

Nevertheless, they returned back down the manhole, leaving the captain to worry on his own.


	5. Mini Invasion

"Hey, kid," said the wooden bear, even though there were three of them, and none of them were legally kids. "How'd you like to help shape the future of Inkopolis?"

Sheldon lent them the weapons, but it took him a while to set them up. One and Two, with disguises still switched, both had their Brellas. One hid a Tenta Brella in her hoodie with a lot of slouching forward, Two held an Undercover Brella like an everyday parasol, and Four had her Dualies tucked into her jacket.

She had no disguise, though. At this point, she didn't need one. Especially since she looked like a generic passing citizen.

The Brellas were modified to use the "serious ink," or the unofficial name for the condensed ink for serious conflicts. Their Ink Tanks were hidden behind their backs. Those, too, were in their jackets, but they were thinner and held less ink as a result.

Grizzco Industries was lit with old flickering lights. Unused buoys hung from the ceiling alongside a net holding several eggs.

It was damp, too, and it smelled odd.

The nonmoving bear that was clearly just a speaker continued. "Welcome to Grizzco Industries. I'm-" Static overtook the speaker. Four tensed.

"Not yet," Two whispered as she grabbed for her Dualies.

The static cleared, and the voice started again. "You should know what to do by now. It's been a while since we opened. Come in," he insisted, as a door behind the speaker slid open. "The next boat heads out now."

The door led to a slim, unremarkable hallway lit like the main room and somehow even more damp. Water was dripping from the ceiling, but it it was so little, it didn't harm them at all.

Two led the way, but nothing happened in the short, yet long, trip.

When the hall finally opened up into slightly fresher air, a row of boats awaited them. They were still indoors, in the same general aesthetic. The boats were in a small body of water in a garage-like place. Most of them were unmoving, but one's large satellite was spinning, almost colliding with the unnecessary giant umbrella on it. They looked to be mostly metal.

"I guess that's the one," Two murmured. She kept going, and led the two onto it. Not that they needed to be led.

The ship's horn blew as the garage door opened and it left the non-traditional pier. The waters were still blue here, as they hadn't reached the Restricted Zone yet. Grizzco had legal permission to venture into the area.

They waited wordlessly. Who knew if there were speakers or cameras on the boat.

After some time had passed, the person behind the megaphone mounted on the boat spoke again. "We're here. Hop off so we can start."

Something was off. By overhearing conversations, Four always heard that they were provided gear and weapons, of which they were given neither.

Thinking that something was up, she tapped One on her shoulder, gesturing her to leave a Squid Beakon on the boat. She obliged, silently leaving one on the deck.

Together, they super jumped to the place they were expected to. There was nothing noteworthy about it other than a few small protruding rocks. The whole place was just a circle slightly elevated above sea level. Even more odd was the water color; in the Restricted Zone, it was green. But here, it was a mix between green and blue. They were at the edge of the Restricted Zone.

Before anyone could say something, the Grizzco ship sailed closer, but not close enough to be reachable by hand.

Tensions were very high. When another boat sailed closer and gave the first one a Bubbler shield, it broke. The three took their weapons in hand, ready for a fight.

The second boat was nearly identical to the other one, but instead of a satellite, there was a large antenna, implying it was remote-controlled.

"I didn't know their tech reached that level yet," growled One. There was no panic in her voice. "Since when could boats use an outlawed super?"

Without answering, the voice from the boat said, "I was wondering when you two would show up. I'll cut thing's short. You're not leaving. And you, kid." He was referring to Agent 4. "Stay away from them from now on. Be a good girl and stand near the edge. You don't have to watch. When we're done, we'll take you back."

"Don't patronize me," she barked. "I'm with them for a reason." The first boat started to turn its satellite toward them. "Scatter!" Four yelled.

The satellite — which clearly wasn't a satellite — shot a sound wave reminiscent of a Killer Wail.

_So things can come out of that bubble, but not in,_ thought Two. _They recreated that Bubbler down to its last detail._

The ship continued its controlled rampage, sending out three Inkstrikes from a launcher behind it. The other boat, still providing the Bubbler, fired several homing missiles, also from behind.

The Inkstrikes flew back downwards, creating a torrent of outward-moving waves that blanketed the ground in a deep purple. Four simply rolled out of the way while the others backed up and opened their Brellas to defend from the deadly twister.

Then as the missiles quickly approached, Four had a crazy idea. She ran towards one, attracting multiple as she went, and dove under them, letting them sail overhead. The plethora of missiles turned downwards and back around so that they all faced the boat that shot them.

She kept running, towards the edge of the circle, and as she reached the edge, pivoted, hurdled over the approaching missiles, and let them all drill into the remote-controlled ship. The ship, now severely damaged, began to sink. The Bubbler faded with a loud whoosh.

"Whoa!" Exclaimed One. "What was that?"

"I have no idea!" She yelled, dropping a Splat Bomb at her feet. It popped the rest of the remaining missiles. "But it worked, right? Anyway, Two! Get over there!"

Referring to Marie as just "Two" was still new to her.

The first boat, the one that took them there, turned to leave. Two nodded at them and super jumped to the Squid Beakon. At the crest of her flight, she stopped for a moment and hung in the air as her body became covered in their signature green ink.

Her Splashdown slammed into the deck, creating a spinning mess of ink that coated the entire exterior in green. The sheer force blew off the umbrella, leaving it overturned and floating in the waters, and it short-circuited the speakers and the weapons, rendering them useless. They were water-proof, but not ink proof.

A few quiet seconds passed.

"Come on!" Two called. "It's safe!"

Four followed, landing on both feet with her knees bent. "Alrighty then. What now?"

Suddenly, a door flew open from the ship's bridge. The two shot their heads toward the sound. A tall Octoling wearing yet another pair of Hypno-Shades looked around in panic, caught a glance of them pointing their weapons at her, and wasted no time in super jumping away to somewhere far off.

Two and Four glanced at each other before looking to where she jumped. They couldn't see where.

"Wh...Where...?" Four started.

"A secret jump point. Of course they have those here," Two guessed.

One landed on the deck behind her. "Well, that was a quick fight. Hope that's the last of this place." As she brushed her hands together, she noticed the door hanging open from the bridge. "The captain left? Err, do either of you know how to pilot a boat? We should leave before the tracking system on this thing gets us."

"Ooh, actually, I do!" Four said excitedly. "See, my dad's a captain, and he taught me how." She led the way, dashing to the door and making a sharp turn right to get in the bridge. She examined the controls, panning her vision across the entire panel. "This... is a lot simpler than other boats of this size. Alright, here we go."

The other two watched from behind as she fiddled with switches and hit buttons labeled with pictures rather than words. Neither of them could comprehend what was happening. "He always said this would help me in life, but i don't think he meant it like this."

Two turned back as they started to turn around and move. The bridge was very bland; it had the same brown from the Grizzco lobby covering all of the walls, but the material was different, and it was remarkably dry. She noticed something standing out. "Hey, what's that?" She wondered out loud. "Look."

A simple wooden table with jagged edges and unpolished surfaces stood bolted to the floor. There were two sheets of paper on it, but both looked as if they were crumpled and unfurled again. The edges were torn, and they had holes in them.

The boat tilted aggressively to the side. "Sorry!" Four shouted over the water. She flipped another switch, then the boat started to stabilize.

One and Two quickly crossed the distance to the table. Each picked up one.

"Mine's in code. Can't read it," said One. She folded it up and placed it in her coat pocket.

Two started to read hers out loud after some hesitation.

* * *

Name: Akash Octrope

Subj: Backup Power

Octavio's planning on stealing the Great Zapfish again. He didn't learn from last time.

I've been getting an underground team of researchers to look into the species of fish migrating close to Inkopolis, since their eggs look like a viable power source. We'd have no way to consistently collect to research, and possibly provide power.

I'll think on this and find a solution eventually.

* * *

"Hmm." She thought for a bit in silence. "Well, he found his solution," said Two as she shoved the paper into her own pocket. "Have either of you heard that name before?"

No responses; just two blank stares.

"We can jump right back to the city from here," interjected Four. They were still at a far distance from the shore, but the nearest jump point was a seldom-used boardwalk close to Wahoo World. "Hold on, I have an idea. You two jump off now."

She turned the boat around as they left, making it face away from the city and its shores. As the other two jumped off to the boardwalk, she put it at maximum speed, rolled out, and jumped as soon as there was no roof over her head.

She landed once again, this time on the barren boardwalk, next to Callie. Not One, as her disguise was off. "That's not gonna get us in any... legal trouble, right?" Callie asked anxiously.

The boat, still covered in green, was chugging along the blue waters, facing outward. Nothing was in its path, as far as they could see.

"And if they said something," explained Marie, also with her disguise off, "they'd also have to admit to attacking us. I think Rose could pass as a minor, so that'd be worse. We're fine, legally at least. Now, as for every other type of trouble, I'd say yeah, we're screwed."

"Perfect... Man, I wish Simon was here. He'd... do... something." Callie looked rather sad at the thought.

They have such great chemistry, Rose thought. She removed her coat and tied it around her waist. Turns out that she put on the jacket over her other clothes. "We'll find him. Seems like a great guy, and tough, too." She was was just trying to reassure her; she knew absolutely nothing about him. "Let's get these papers back."


	6. Downtime

"Alright, so the next course of action," Four declared with confidence, "is to find where the celebrity was captured." She was carefully treating Agent 1 and Callie as separate people even though nobody could possibly hear her.

They were at Tentakeel Outpost figuring out what to do next. They'd already shown both crumpled documents to Cap'n Cuttlefish, who drearily looked at them and wordlessly set them on the cushion of the old couch he was sitting on. "Don't worry," Two whispered to Four, "We'll... I'll talk to him later."

"So... we go find it now?" She hoped to do something more, as her excitement and adrenaline from Grizzco hadn't died down yet.

Two glanced around warily, displaying the same instints as Four. "Yeah, but whatever we find, we hold off on invading until later tonight when it's less active."

"Aww," Four complained. Her adrenaline from Grizzco was still pumping. "...Anyway, what do we do with DJ Oc?"

"Nothing yet," said Two. Octavio was in the corner of Tentakeel, inside a glass globe that muffled sound. He couldn't see the rest of the outpost due to the room divider blocking his corner from it.

"I'm back!" Squealed One as she shot out of the manhole. After going shopping for separate disguises, her unmistakably bubbly personality shone through her mouth covering and cap. "I got us all matching sunglasses!"

"Great, but let's swap into these public disguises... not here. You asked for the sub weapons, too, right?" Two was being remarkably vocal. She seemed to be temporarily taking over the position of captain.

"Yup!" In addition the the new shades, she also asked Sheldon to add some new sub weapons to the Hero Roller and Charger. It took forever, what with all the monologuing he did. "That's why it took so long... He'll send them here later."

* * *

Rose fiddled with her sunglasses once they were at a table in the square. No matter how she put them on her face, they weren't very comfortable. "Do I really need these? I'm not that famous..."

"But they're cool, right?" Said Callie. "See, I'm fine with them." She pulled them down, revealing her pupils and striking a pose which really let her back-facing cap shine.

Rose couldn't argue with that. They _were_ pretty cool.

Marie brushed her unexpectedly long hair away from her face. Letting it down was a core piece of the disguise. Other than that, she only had her sunglasses. "I'll need to get used to this," she sighed. "Let's find the place." With that, she led the way, super jumping to the location of their old apartment building.

Rose and Callie followed, soaring through the air, and once they landed, they saw Marie standing nearby and desperately trying to untangle her hair. "This is why I always pin it up!"

"I'll... uh, go this way," Callie decided to get away from the situation

Rose started to soak in the scenery as she and Marie went after her. The buildings here were shorter since they were farther from the heart of the city. They were mostly apartment buildings with the occasional restaurant or barbershop. It was like a residential district.

The one thing missing, though, was the people. As far as she could see, nobody was on the street other than them. The metal garbage cans in the alleys were empty and there were no lights shining through the windows. None were broken, however; each was still intact, if a bit dirty. "Was this place... always this deserted?" She asked, taking in the street like it was an exhibit in a museum.

Marie finally got her hair behind her head again. Being able to see more clearly, she shot her gaze around, seeing many of the same things Rose did. "No... But this place was rumored to be gang territory a little more than a year ago, so people stay away." She noticed Callie walking with her head down and with her thumbs in her pockets. "You okay there?"

Callie suddenly shot her head up and took her hands out. It must've been an old habit that never got broken. "...I guess. I just... don't know what I did, or how I'll recognize where-" She abruptly came to a stop, almost letting Rose walk into her. "H-here." Her voice was shaky.

To nobody's surprise, there was an alley to their direct right. Its walls were brick, its ground concrete. It came to a dead end by the only thing in there: an empty, green dumpster with a black lid hanging behind it.

One of the few details Rose knew about the kidnapping was that Callie was on her way to some meeting somewhere. Why would she come through this deserted street? Was it just the quickest way there?

"Hey, Rose, help me with this," yelled Marie from the side of the dumpster. She had one hand under it, getting ready to lift it.

"Oh, uh, coming!" She cleared her mind, ran to her, and helped her lift it and tip it over on its side with a loud crash. Callie was staring into the distance.

An unmoving kettle was there with clear, polished metal. The only thing that adorned it was a piece of masking tape on its side labeled "LAB".

Rose looked at Marie next to her and whispered, "she'll be fine, right?"

"I'm the master at giving pep talks," she bragged, "but I've never done it to her and Gramps at the same time. Don't worry about it. This is... more personal... Let's meet at Tentakeel at midnight, okay?"


	7. Enter the Lab

For what felt like the thousandth time, he awoke in a holding cell specifically designed for Inklings. It was pure metal, but it looked like he was given special treatment, having no guards and instead an extra layer of wall separating him from the outside.

His name was Simon, but he hadn't been asked that. They know he would've given them a fake one. Not like it mattered to his captors what his real name was. To them, he was Agent 3, and that was enough.

All he could do was wait. His weapon was gone, he was stuck with no way out, and they used to come every day to mock him. He learned to block them out and just stare at the ceiling, but they still came.

But recently, they stopped. A few days ago, they left him alone, leaving him to sit apathetically in solitude. It was more boring than anything. He enjoyed company, if all they did was call him useless.

An hour passed. Two. Then came the sound of footsteps echoing outside. A sound he hadn't heard for quite a while.

It was at least two people, both presumably Octolings. They were speaking. One voice was feminine, one masculine.

After that whole issue with the subway a while ago, he picked up a bit of their language, but that was a different situation. He caught only a few of their words.

"Dad... the... and..."

"...Fell... Sis..."

That didn't help. He strained to try and understand more, but it was all gibberish in his ears.

Then his cell door opened for the first time since he was put in there.

* * *

"Why is this thing so finicky?" Four twisted the left ear of her new headset, trying to figure out what it did.

"It's not that bad," said Two. She twisted her own left ear. "See, this is when I want to talk with you." She twisted it again. "With her." And once more. "With both of you," she finished. "But just keep it with both of us, I don't know the point of the other settings.

"Alright..." Four tried to twist it again, but it blasted a loud static sound. "Agh!" She threw it down on reflex. Then warily picked it back up and adjusted it in her hands.

It was, of course, midnight. The three were taking the same walk back to the Lab, but with their signature weapons. One with a Roller, Two with a Charger, and Four with Dualies. They all had their three sub-weapons Sheldon added earlier. Their disguises were back on, save Four. She was lucky to not need any disguise due to not being famous.

One was leading the march again, but this time, she was a lot more energetic. They could see it in her eyes and the way she walked. "Here we are!" She yelled as they passed the alley. "Let's-"

"Quiet!" Hissed Two. "Don't you know why we're here at night?"

"...Fine," she grumbled. "...Let's head in."

She kept leading the way, though. After turning the corner, she dived in through the metal grating of the kettle, followed by her partners.

The distance between the entrance and the floor was little.

"What..." Four whispered upon landing inside.

She didn't have to explain her confusion; unlike every other Octarian base any of them had seen, this one wasn't full of large floating pieces of land.

It was like they were inside a building this time, since it had actual walls and a ceiling. It was dark with no lights on, so everything looked black or a dark shade of grey.

A few seconds of stunned silence passed, then they nodded at each other and pressed onwards.

About halfway through the hallway, a door resided on its left side. One opened it carefully, but there was nothing inside other than a broken computer on a short, lonely desk.

The entire room was a cubicle, barely wider than the doorway. "What's the point of this?" wondered One.

"For us," whispered Two, "it's this." She pushed past her and snatched another piece of paper off of the desk. It was almost invisible in the dark. "Also in code. Ugh." After stuffing that into her coat pocket as well, she stepped back out, prompting them to move on.

At the end of the hallway, at the bottom of a gentle slope, there was a split in the dark walls. Another hall laid perpendicular to the first one, leaving three paths to be explored.

"Split?" offered One.

"Split," agreed Two.

Four spoke up. "Isn't that the horror movie tactic that always ends badly? I don't us to lose here."

"Says the girl that took six Octolings at once and won," quipped Two. "Yeah, don't think I don't remember that."

"Well, sure, but," she leaned in closer, reaching for something witty. "What if there are seven?"

"Just take a path, Four," she groaned.

"Fine..." Hesitantly, she conceded, shuffling to the right one. One went left, leaving Two to go down the middle.

There was almost nothing down the middle path. She went forward for a while and eventually strapped her Charger to her belt to keep walking with her hands in her pockets.

Another few minutes of sluggish, soundless walking passed before the black, empty hall finally provided something. There was a staircase that went upwards and to the left.

Before ascending to wherever it went, she crouched down at the base and listened for someone at the other end. Then someone yawned. Loudly.

_Big mistake,_ thought Two.

She took her Charger back in her hands and charged a shot, aiming it at the ground. It had a silencer, so noise wouldn't be a problem. She took a breath and sprinted up the staircase as quietly as she could. As soon as the aiming laser hit the target, she released the trigger, sending a long stream of ink to it.

It was an Octoling. What else would it be?

Now a pool of green ink sat on the floor and covered a bit of the walls around it. In the darkness, it looked several shades darker than it was. It dripped down the stairs, leaving a small puddle on the next one down. The path seemed to come to a dead end here, but as Two strained her eyes more, she saw a swinging door that covered the entire end of the path.

As she pushed it slowly inwards, she peeked in, seeing someone reclining on a basic four-legged wooden chair in a room the size of the small one from earlier. They were facing toward the far wall and staring at a bright screen, periodically hitting keys on a keyboard to switch views. It was the security camera guy. How underfunded was this place to have only a single monitor and two people on security without a a lock?

She charged another shot and pushed the tip of the weapon in, aimed at them, and released the trigger once again. The room was now entirely dark green, that's how tiny it was.

Taking another breath, she crept her way inside and plopped down on the newly-inked chair. She wiped the monitor and keyboard with her jacket, letting her see a portion of them.

After trying one of the keys, the view shifted to... somewhere in the facility. The lighting was better there, but that might've been just the camera.

Four was in there, in a heated encounter with two Octolings somewhere in the same hall, but there was a sharp turn in it. She grinned devilishly as she was backed into the corner, aiming one Dualie backwards to ink the wall.

Without turning around, she swam up and kicked off of it, hurtling forward. She hopped of the head of one of the two, dropping a bomb which splatted both of them at once. Still with that devilish grin, she cinematically walked away.

Thinking this was a good time to say so, Two said into her headset, "I got the security guy. Don't panic if you see a camera."

In reaction, Four whirled around on the screen, looking for said camera. As she made eye contact with it, she started waving and replaced her mischievous smile with a cheerful one. After the gesture, she turned back around, holstered her Dualies, and sprinted ahead.

Two rolled her eyes. She hit another key, and it showed nothing other than more hall. Another, still nothing. On the third, she found One.

She was out of the hallway and in an actual room with a desk and cheap brown carpeting. An empty bookshelf resided in its corner and an empty trophy case in the other.

One snatched a paper off of the desk and folded it, but it was impossible to make out on the screen. "I got something, but I can't tell what it is. It's too dark."

"Me too," said Agent 4. "What now?"

Another key showed nothing. And another one. Another one. The next was somewhere unusual. The screen displayed another room which had an array of more Octoling soldiers. There were about thirty of them. One stood at the front, facing them on a podium, but oddly, she didn't have any Hypno-Shades on. She said something, but the cameras didn't record audio.

The one at the front brought her hand up, then snapped it back down. That was a symbol for something, but it didn't take long for Two to figure out what it was. The array of soldiers rearranged into two lines, then charged through an opening in the side of the room.

"Get out, now," Two said. "We've been found."

"I know that!" shrieked Four. "A bunch of them are after me!"

Two backed out of the room, but not after smashing the monitor with a kick to the screen. She leapt down the staircase and began the long run back to the fork in the hall.

While running, she kept checking behind her, but of course, there was nobody there.

She shot out of the middle path to find that One was already there. "Is she alright?" She said quickly. A hint of worry crept into her eyes.

"Go! Run!" Four's voice echoed through the hall. "Go on!"

One dropped a Splash Wall by the entrance to the hall as Four barreled out of it. The small unit behind her tore through it in seconds, but that was all they needed.

Running shoulder to shoulder, they passed the small room, reached the entrance to the Lab again, and simultaneously super jumped out of it, leaping back into the choppy moonlight that shone through.


	8. Inquiry

Since it was still in the dead of night, most of Tentakeel Outpost was darkened. The lights hanging from the cabin, though, engulfed the ground in a rectangular shape.

The weapon upgrader and the test balloons were also dimly lit, for some reason.

"Captain?" Four whispered. He was sound asleep, dozing on the couch. "Captain?"

He awoke with a start. He made a noise and sat up. "Wha?" He said, still half-asleep.

"We've been over this," said Two. "Remember what happened last time you dropped your guard around him?" She pointed backwards to the room divider that hid Octavio.

One casually removed the clear plastic sheet from her pocket and changed the subject. "Do we... have a use for this?" She unfolded it and held it up. "I can't tell what it is."

Four buried her hand into her own coat pocket. "Oh yeah, I have one of those, too!" She did the same thing, unfolding it and presenting it to Cap'n Cuttlefish.

He squinted at them, which looked unexpectedly horrifying with his huge eyeballs, and took them in his hands, putting one on top of the other. "Oh. I figured it out!" Apparently, that was a complete accident.

Since the sheets were transparent, it was possible to stack them and line up their symbols. They formed a cipher that matched the coded documents they found

Two took the coded document in her hand and compared them. "Yeah, they're the same. Let me have them, I'll get to work on decoding this. And the other one, too."

"Alright." Four shrugged. She went over to the cushions near the wooden cabin and sat down on them, letting her legs swing. One followed, but she chose to stand.

Four chanced asking a sensitive question. "So, you feeling alright?" The delivery was casual.

"Huh? Me?" One pointed at herself. "I-I guess? I don't know why, though... I guess I've been trying to forget about all of it. Sorry for trying to... kill you." Her words we're slightly muffled through the mouth covering.

"Eh, I don't blame you, it was all DJ Oc," she put on a sassy grin and leaned a bit to the side. "If it makes you feel better, it was really easy."

"Oh, okay..." she smiled under the disguise. "That's good to hear. By the way, how'd you get involved?"

"With this?" Four pointed at the ground, meaning the Outpost. "I literally just followed her down that manhole. In hindsight, that could've gone so wrong in so many different ways, following a random stranger and all, but I'm glad it didn't!"

"Done!" Two called. Both coded documents were on the ground with the cipher. Under each line, she wrote the decoded version in.

"That's all in Octarian," observed Cap'n Cuttlefish from over the armrest. "I can-"

"I can translate it," chimed Two.

As they went back, One gave her a weird look. "When did you...?"

"Oh. Wait." Two looked away, obviously blushing. "I...I might've learned it to help find you."

She gasped. Loudly. "You...!" She stopped herself. "I'll gush later, okay!?"

Four found this very entertaining.

"Uh, I'll start..." Two reluctantly began to read one document in a rough translation.

* * *

Name: Phil Krackke

Subj: NHS

The most active member of the NSS has has been captured. If the plan is to come to fruition, we'll use the New Hypnotic Sunglasses (Name in development) and use him however necessary.

The New Hypnotic Sunglasses are still in development. Testing is proceeding smoothly, but Octavio was not informed of the specifics, such as the collection of random Inklings for research.

Commander Octrope's plan is underway, which will benefit all of us in the long run.

* * *

_Is... Is that seriously what they're calling them? New Hypnotic Sunglasses?_ thought Four, but she wouldn't dare say that out loud.

"...What?" Said One. "So let me get this straight. This Phil guy works for that Akash guy and Octavio?"

"Well, yes," Two replied, "but that isn't the major part. Did you hear the part about 'collection of random Inklings for research'?"

Four thought of something. "Y'know, DJ Oc's right there. Can't we just ask him?"

The weight of the situation pressed down in the silent few seconds that passed.

"I-I'd rather not," One admitted, looking away in shame. "But... okay."

"You sure? Alright then." Two lifted the really light room divider and carried it away. Octavio instantly whirled around started glaring at those standing around him, particularly at Agent 4. One shuffled away and started creepily peeking from behind the cabin.

He was still the giant purple octopus he was, holding his two lime green sticks of wasabi. Two of his tentacles were crossed, baring an x-shaped scar on the one in front. On his round head, he wore a hat that must've been a crown, or whatever the equivalent of his obscure position was.

The eyewear that coved half his vision was sitting on the bottom of the snow globe. Apparently he didn't bother picking it back up.

After putting down the divider, Two stepped on a tiny button on the base of the snow globe that disabled the sound barrier in it. "What." Octavio bellowed, loudly and forcefully.

"Can you read this?" Two held up the paper, still in Octarian and with several creases running through it. His big, green eyes stared running across it immediately. It was the closest thing he had to entertainment since... just yesterday.

"That traitor," he said in the same way whilst still reading it. "Octrope? Yeah. Heard of him. Recently went after my leader position. Failed more than once. Guess he's done it now." He looked regretful. Octavio obviously didn't want to share any information with them.

"...That's it?" Said Four, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms. She leaned forward and looked him right in the eyes. "Nothing else?"

"No," he bellowed again, grimacing at her.

"Okay, what else?" Two pulled her back from behind, then tried to think of something else to ask him. "Grizzco. Heard of that?"

He gave her a side eye, somehow grimacing harder. "Yeah. The danger job you idiots take."

They chose to ignore the horrible sentiment. "It's run by that guy," explained Agent 4. "Octrope, was it?"

Octavio sighed, a really low sound. "He's really making them- Ugh. Look, I don't hate Inklings as a whole, okay? He does, though. But don't get me wrong. You two suck." He gazed at them, hatred filling his eyes.

"Aww, thanks!" Four mocked cutely. "That's the nicest thing I've ever heard from you." It was true, since it was the first time he directly addressed them. She took the same posture, crossing her arms and leaning forward.

"That's enough, Four," said Two. She hit the muffle button on the globe's base again before he could scream their ears out, then dragged the room divider back before he thought of throwing up rude gestures.

"He's so horrible," commented Four.

"You're the one that insulted him to his face," said Two flatly.

"B-But, he tried to crush me under those giant hand things!" Four pleaded for justification.

"That doesn't mean you should- Never mind. I'll get on the other one." Two retrieved the other untranslated document from the ground.

One slowly crept back from the cabin.

* * *

Name: Akash Octrope

Subj: Agent 3

* * *

_Oh boy, here we go,_ Two thought.

* * *

Instead of Agent 3, Octavio has chosen to use the New Hypno-Shades on the celebrity. He says it'll "decrease morale" and "heighten our chances of success."

It won't work, but it's made my plan easier. He'll go be the Grizzco representative for us so we can start collecting the eggs. Naturally, he refused, even after threats. The kid's smart, he knows he's too valuable to be hurt.

After informing him of our possession of the celebrity, however, he was eager to go.

* * *

After hearing that last sentence, Four could tell what exactly would happen, so she hastily tried to change the subject. "Wow!" She said, clapping her hands together. "It sure is convenient that these papers give us _useful information_!"

Unfortunately, she was bad at faking enthusiasm. Or any emotion, for that matter.

Two closed her eyes, mentally preparing herself for what was to come, then pushed One into the cabin, locking the door behind them.

The captain stood, hastily hobbling over to the door, then decided against barging in, instead deciding to linger next to it.

* * *

The small interior of Cuttlefish Cabin was dimly lit with a few candles. A desk sat in the corner, with shelves above it holding boxes filled with papers.

"Look, I know what you're thinking," said Marie, flicking her sunglasses off of her face and letting them clatter on the polished desk.. "'He picked me over the whole dang city,' right?"

Callie pulled her mouth covering down and nodded worriedly.

Marie took another breath, preparing to follow that up with something, then slowly let it out. "...I didn't think this far. What do you want to hear, Callie!?"

"Uhh...!" She put her hands up in defense of the aggressive, yet failed, empathy. "Maybe..." she pulled away, letting a flame ignite in her eyes. "Let's... get him back."


	9. Flight to Fight

Four blankly stared at the cabin.

Now that the excitement was over, she started to feel the lack of sleep. She tiredly wandered to the ragged, patched-up couch by the manhole and fell into it, making sure to avoid the side the captain sat in.

"We still haven't found Agent 3..." he said as he waddled back to her. He squinted at the ground in some shallow thought.

"Yeah, there was nothing else we found down there," Four dropped her head on the armrest, letting her eyes droop. "Except I found another one of those big kettles with the lids." She was describing it half-asleep in a childish voice. "It was behind a big metal door with, like, super big electromagnetic locks."

Cap'n Cuttlefish, still standing, looked down at her in disbelief. "That's... that's important..." he said.

Four continued. "And one of the guards, there were two of them without the shades, he said something about how they don't get much power. Something about it being stuck in actor volley, or something, I don't know."

"Bucko?" He tapped his cane on the ground. "Was it Octo Valley, they said?"

"Probably? I don't know." She was too sleepy to replay the scene in her mind. Four fell asleep right there, letting herself go limp in the welcoming softness of the vintage couch.

"She saw what, exactly?" Two burst out of the cabin, wearing her sunglasses again. "I heard something about a metal door, and locks." She jogged over to see Four with her head and arms limply hanging off of the couch.

If it wasn't for her heavy breathing, it would look like a crime scene. She looks adorable when she's asleep, thought Two.

The captain took over, slowly turning around to face her, "Eh, she said that we need to cut off power to that Lab."

If the doors were locked electromagnetically, they'd disable if the facility faced a blackout. Then they could explore deeper into the Lab.

Two understood that, but there was still one part that puzzled her. "But I heard Octo Valley, too. Why's the source there, of all places?"

"Because..." said One as she crept out of the cabin with her mask on. "Because if they put it under the city, it would have strong effects on wireless devices. Samomid eggs... do that..." she slouched, putting her hands in her pockets again.

"Wh-" started Two. "Oh..." _She just remembered something else._ "Got it..."

"Let's... just... find a way there..." muttered One, faintly smiling and shuffling to the couch. "What do we do with her?"

Two looked at Four, then at Octavio's corner. "Guess we're camping here tonight," she sighed. "I'm not dragging her back. Or leaving her with him."

* * *

Four woke up to an unpleasant mouthful of dirt. Sometime during the night, she rolled off the couch and planted her face in the soft soil.

Disgusted, she spit, leaving a damp wad of it on the ground.

Groaning, she stood, stretched, and looked around, rediscovering where she was.

The sun was up, still rising, but it shone brightly, so the lanterns around on the cabin in the corner were put out. She didn't know if it was automatic or not.

The tree above her gave some shade, though.

Standing right next to her was Two, but she hadn't noticed that. "Next time, try not to fall asleep next to Octavio, okay?"

"Ah!" Four jumped back, still in that transition phase to full awareness. She almost landed on her Dualies sitting on the ground. "W-what?"

"He's right there. Octavio. Don't let him kidnap you like he did with Three." Her expression, especially her eyes, was unreadable. "And Callie," she murmured.

"Oh... uh... sorry..." Four picked up her Dualies while cautiously staring at his corner with the pink room divider. The silhouette of the globe was faintly visible, but she's couldn't make out Octavio's shape. Does she sleep? she thought, holstering the Dualies.

"Morning!" yelled One from the cabin, harshly kicking the door open. "What's the plan now?"

"We get to Octo Valley," said Two. "We can... Wait, Four, you know where that is?"

She shook her head and blinked. "All I know is that it's where Agent 3 got the Great Zapfish the first time." Once again, she fell backwards onto the couch with nothing else better to do.

"That's most of it," explained Two, "but some time after he did that, Octavio sealed the entrance from Inkopolis Plaza. Then carved out a piece of said Plaza and used it as an arena. You fought him on it."

"Hold up," said Four, holding her hand up. "A piece of the... Wouldn't people notice that?"

One jumped in, crossing her arms in amusement. "Pff, yeah, everyone saw it. The higher-ups in the city said it was roadwork and moved everything to the the square," she laughed.

"...Yeah," said Two as she adjusted her sunglasses. "Anyway, we have to fly there."


	10. Liftoff

Four was still getting over the fact that they stole a piece of the ground. What was the point of that? Symbolism? Morale?

Several reasons, all probably wrong, crossed her mind as she stared, dumbfounded, at the ridiculous image of a flying truck slowly hovering to Tentakeel.

She had prepared each of the nine Hero Weapons that Sheldon had created, leaving them all laying by her as she was sitting cross-legged in anticipation. All of them had the same color scheme of lime green with occasional blue lights flashing on black.

Straining her eyes, Four could faintly make out the design on the truck's side; splashes of paint, not ink, were on it, with every inch of the old design covered in a splash of some other color.

Paint was less temporary than ink, which decayed quickly. The questionable design must've been to cover the Squid Sisters logo on it.

Sheldon was happily driving again. What did he do the truck to make it fly, and more importantly, why? There's no way he did it in the time between Four fighting Octavio and Marie showing up, so he must've done it in stupid anticipation.

One waved wildly from the top of the truck as it sluggishly flew closer. She was obviously smilingly widely, even with the mouth covering hiding it.

"What... is that?" Cap'n Cuttlefish appeared from behind Four, peering at the vehicle as if it was going to attack them. Where did he come from? "Is it an Octarian weapon?"

"We... uh... decided to fly to Octo Valley. That's the best thing we have," she knew too well that that was unconvincing. Sheldon needed to explain something later.

Four stood up and test-fired the Hero Splatling off the edge, away from the truck. It was, without a doubt, her least favorite of the weapon classes to use, right next to Chargers and Brellas. She was better with Dualies. Way better.

"Hey, Four!" One yelled in the distance. "Like the new paint job?"

"No!" ...At least she was honest. It looked wrong, even to Four, who usually never cared about looks. Did they shoot paint at it?

As it inched closer and closer, Four could make out that the metal railing was still on there. It covered only one side of it, but it would make for a valuable handhold if it came to an airborne battle.

The truck slowed down as it hovered above the Outpost. It lowered, letting the wheel-thruster things land facedown on the ground, whirring to a stop as it thumped on the dirt.

Octavio must've seen the truck at its height. Hopefully, he didn't make the connection that the two Inklings on it were the same two he saw a couple of days ago.

"Can you guys really not afford something better?" Four asked, raising an eyebrow at the mechanical abomination before her.

Two hopped down, avoiding the Hero weapons strewn across the ground. "And you think nobody's going to ask why we need another helicopter? It won't hold the weapons anyway."

"Another?"

"Just load the weapons, Four, that doesn't matter right now. I promise, I'll tell you later," she went to the back, opening the truck's doors.

With Two in the back, One spoke up, leaning back on the railing. "...So what's wrong with the paint job?"

* * *

"And we have liftoff!" One and Four yelled that in unison, pumping their fists in the air as they felt the truck rise from within. The engine rumbled as the air started to flow by.

The truck's interior was grayish with flickering lights. It was a little dirty; it usually wasn't used for much other than stage equipment, sometimes for the outdoor concerts. Nothing was in there other than them and all of the nine Hero Weapons.

They'd only be able to use three at a time, of course, but they might need specific weapons for different scenarios. Octo Valley might have changed a lot in the past two years.

Four leaned back and lay down on the floor, not caring about the dust and grime getting caught in her hair. "Imagine seeing this from Octo Valley. Some random truck floating menacingly in the distance, heavy metal blasting from the speakers."

Two looked at her strangely. "We... don't really do heavy metal, Four..." She slid down and sat by the wall, crossing her arms in boredom.

"You should," she laughed, "It'd make raids like this ten times better. Dubstep vs. Metal. That sounds like a Splatfest."

"Dream all you want," said One. "I'm not screaming into a microphone again after what happened to our first studio."

"Ooh, I smell a story behind that," Four sat up, peering at One intently. "Spill it. What happened?"

"There's not much story at all," sighed Two. "She just screamed into a cheap mic 'cause she felt like it. Cost me a lot back then..." she glared at One through the sunglasses.

One held up her hands in defense. "I paid you back! Sure, it was three years later, but I did!"

"There's something in the distance!" Sheldon said abruptly. "I can't make it out from here, you want to check it out?" He also apparently installed a speaker system because he really should not have been heard from the driver's seat.

"...How?" asked Four. "Oh wait, I see." There was also a trapdoor in the dead center of the truck's roof, leading to the outside. "Why though?"

"Doesn't matter... But yeah, why, though?" muttered Two. She stood up, went under the trapdoor, and jumped, latching her fingers on it and letting it swing open.

Then she used that to pull herself up.

In the strong wind of the outside, her sunglasses protected her eyes. "Pass me my Charger!" she shouted over the blusters.

The view from the high point was breathtaking. Inkopolis was on one side, the ocean past it, and on the other, green mountains towered and a blue river flowed, creating a picturesque landscape not many people would be able to see from there.

Octo Valley was in the distance by a carved sculpture of an octopus, but still pretty far. Tentakeel Outpost was nothing but a dot in the air behind.

Four hoisted herself up next, but not after hurling the Hero Charger out of the truck. She leaned on the railing, peering in the distance at a shining speck in the air in front. That was what Sheldon had mentioned, but it was too far to identify. "Yeah, can't tell what it is," said Four.

A sound cut through the loud blowing of the wind. It was similar to a seagull's call, but it sounded more dominant and forceful.

"What the..." gasped Four. Whatever the glimmering speck was, it was approaching terrifyingly quickly. "We're in for a sky fight. Get me the Blaster!"

One was the last one up. She threw up the Blaster first, like Four asked, then heaved the Splatling onto the top of the truck. It landed with a crash on the metal roof.

Four looked again. The reflective speck was almost entirely metallic. Its body was polished with its head being entirely made of a transparent material. A beak ornamented it, but its purpose was unclear. There were wings on its sides, but they only held thrusters keeping it aloft.

Glowing orange areas were on each of its joints.

In nearly every way, it resembled a gigantic bird the size of Tentakeel. "Hold on," said Four. "Sheldon's gonna swerve."

She predicted that perfectly. The next moment, the truck violently leaned to one side, throwing everyone off-balance. As the giant, mechanical bird sliced through the air, it let out another deafening cry.

It turned, leaning like an airplane, then stopped behind the truck still moving forward, posing upright with its wings spread outwards. It moved at the same pace as them, pushing forward menacingly without heavy metal blasting from its nonexistent speakers.

Two took aim at it, looking for somewhere to shoot. She came to a glowing, orange spot near its short leg, then let loose the shot. It cut through the weak piece of whatever that was like a drill through styrofoam, leaving a tiny hole in it. "There," she said, "blast it off, Four!"

The bird rose upwards, then pointed the damaged leg directly at the truck. It fired off a Sting Ray, which the three narrowly avoided.

Sheldon swerved again, rising to its level. One unleashed a torrent of ink at the other leg just as it started firing a volley of Splat Bombs. Four shot at the cluster of bombs, forcing them out of the air, then fired once more at the leg that dropped them.

The small explosion from the Blaster severed the orange connection and broke off the leg, making it spin in helpless circles as it tumbled straight into the river.

"How far are we?" Four yelled over the booming thrusters. She looked behind her at the moving landscape. "Almost," she muttered. Octo Valley was really close, just a little longer at maximum speed, and they'd make it.

She blindly fired again, making her body go rigid to not let the recoil knock her over. She missed. With the other hand, she gripped the metal railing, since it was the only handhold they had.

Once again, it let out a screeching cry. It tried the Sting Ray again, pointing its remaining claw-like foot at the truck.

Four was narrowly caught in the line of fire for a terrifying moment, but not long enough to splat her. "Owwww..." she groaned, clutching her arm. She dropped in a kneel, clenching her teeth, then forced her weak arm with the Blaster to rise. In a burst of unexpected strength, she jumped up, barely reaching the clear head of the flying beast with the shot, coating it in ink and blinding the pilot.

Landing on the truck again, she dropped the Blaster and excercised her arm in circles as the purple ink dripped out of the sleeve. "I hate Sting Rays..."

Suddenly, the truck started to slow down as it reached the Octopus sculpture by Octo Valley. It hovered over the old manhole with its wheels face-down, then thumped onto the ground.

Whatever that giant, metal bird was stopped moving. It was hovering in the air, just outside the valley, not bringing the leg down and seemingly tamed.

But then it started to take the gliding position again as it slowly rotated around its head. The metal creaked as it pulled off the maneuver. With its beak pointing forwards and it's body behind it, it started to pick up speed again even though the pilot couldn't see outside.

Wherever it was going, it passed directly overhead. It was still gaining speed, so as it flew over the truck's landing place, Two fired at its severed leg, then leaped onto the place she had inked, clinging on to it in her squid form.

The beast picked up speed and soared into the distance, taking Two with it and leaving One and Four to only stare speechless as it left them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s the end of the burst of chapters, aka everything I’ve rewritten. From her on out, updates should be weekly since I’m writing something else at the same time, but that might change.  
Anyway, thanks for making it this far.


	11. Crushed Eggs

“E-Eagle!” One exclaimed as she thrust a finger at the departing mass of metal. “That thing.... It’s called the Eagle!” She lost her balance. Four caught her, wrapping her arms around One’s chest before she could fall off of the truck.

_Again. She remembered something again, _Four thought.

More importantly, her mentor was, effectively, kidnapped. Two went on her own accord, but that didn’t mean much when it was a giant, flying bird that she hopped on.

“H-how’s she getting back?” Four said, a hint of fear creeping into her voice. She never went anywhere in Octo Canyon without her voice pushing her on, but now?

All she had was a talkative shop owner and her mentor’s cousin, who just recovered from hypnosis. Which wasn’t the best team ever.

One raised a hand to her headset and twisted the ear. “Ma-Two? You there?” No response.

Two’s headset lay on the ground, broken, crushed under the front left wheel. It was snapped in half, discarded like a broken toy.

“Ooh... that’s bad...” Four shuddered. She let go of One and jumped off of the truck. Picking up the remains of Two’s headset, she saw that all of the multi-colored wires inside of it were completely severed, ripped from the pressure. “Yeah, this thing isn’t getting fixed ever. Sheldon, what’s the plan with this?” She held up the half she had, leaving the other half under the wheel.

“Hmm...” He snatched out of her hand like he was stealing it. “I cannot fix this. The best course of action is to get her a new headset, but... well... she’s not here.”

“Not here. Not here!” One panicked. She dropped down, uncomfortably close to Four. “She’ll come back, right? She’ll just take over the Eagle and fly it back here, right?”

_Wishful thinking... _Four thought. _But I hope so, too..._

“We... uh... we’re also out of fuel...” Sheldon interrupted. He adjusted his goggles. “H-how about you two go and find that power source? I’ll wait here... uh... to guard the truck! We don’t know what might happen out here!”

Area 1 of Octo Valley was not the place it was two years ago. The wooden message board that used to stand on one side was torn down, with only two protruding planks of wood suggesting it was once there. Every sign of plant life was gone. The tufts of grass, plucked, and the trees, reduced to stumps. 

Every kettle was sealed with cement, presumably with other entrances and exits elsewhere, far off somewhere they couldn’t access.

“We’re down one,” Four admitted through clenched teeth. It was frustrating, but there was work to do. “We... let’s go.”

One leaned on Four’s shoulder. Despite being older, they were the same height. “O-okay.”

_She’ll come back, _One hoped.

Was this what it was like for Marie when she went missing long ago? Suddenly gone? One moment, there, the other, not there. 

Marie had time to let it sink in, though, with the gradual realization that she was missing. But this time, it was certain, right off the bat, that the other was in the mercy of whoever ran the Octarian society now.

But Callie came back, right? Just like Marie will, right?

No, she wasn’t Callie right now. She was Agent 1. One. Worry about that later.

One was panicking and Sheldon wasn’t going anywhere, so Four had to act as the temporary leader.

She strained to see through the thin layer of fog that draped the area. The power source, presumably filled with Salmonid eggs, wasn’t anywhere in sight.

Next to what was left of the wooden board, there was single piece of... something. It was black and cylindrical, shaped like a regular flashlight, but there wasn’t any bulb inside of it. Four bent over to look at it, leaving One to sullenly get her Roller from the back of the truck, and examined the curious object. Its entire base seemed to act as a button.

She cautiously picked it up and twisted it in her hand, squinting to see the fine details, of which there were none.

“Sheldon, what’s this?” Four called. After bringing it back to him, she dropped it in his outstretched palm. 

_This guy has really small hands._

He pressed the button with the tip of his finger, and it emitted a sound like that of a laser. A long stream of white-purplish ink was released from it, but it wasn’t a regular weapon.

“What the...” said Four upon witnessing the stream,

Said stream was the same diameter as the base of the cylinder, but it didn’t shoot ink. Instead, the stream abruptly ended where it hit the floor of the truck.

“What... is this!?” Sheldon almost dropped the thing in his uncontained excitement. He held it at various heights, and the stream seemed to extend and retract to always end at the truck’s floor. “Four, take this outside and hold it off the edge! A-and don’t touch the purple ink!”

“Uh? Alright?” She didn’t understand a thing about the apparatus, but Sheldon was the expert, so she followed, taking it in the tips of her fingers and letting it hang off the cliff next to the manhole.

The stream ended at about two Inkling heights in length, and completely faded away after that. Four shook it, and it moved like a whip, but the stream was weightless.

The goggles on Sheldon’s eyes somehow glinted as he obsessively leaned out of the window. “I see! This appears to be a prototype of a new class of weapon that combines light and ink! It wouldn’t do well at covering ground, but I imagine it would work best as a secondary weapon as an offensive method!”

“Y’know,” said Four, “I could never understand how you got into a fighting... thing... that you couldn’t even do yourself.”

“Can I have that back?” said Sheldon, completely ignoring her notion. “I must research it!”

Four hit the button on the bottom with her thumb, making the stream disappear, then threw it back to him. “Alright, go ahead,” she insisted. “That was a waste of time for me.”

It hit her again that Two was gone. She winced, then forced herself to march forward. She clenched her teeth again to stop herself from lashing out at the nearest remotely Octarian-shaped shadow. “One, let’s actually go this time!”

“Mm-hmm...” One was leaning on the back side of the vehicle, supposedly taking watch to warn them if anything approached. Her Roller sat like a lifeless doll on the ground. “Any... uh, wires?”

“Not that I see... Where to? Up there?” Four answered her own question when she caught a glimpse of light right where she was pointing, another area in Octo Valley that was more forward than up. “Yeah, up.”

An Inkrail source was bolted to the ground, pointing at the place with the light, so Four shot it. The device clicked and fired off a rope of ink that connected to a series of other floating Inkrail corners.

Four gestured. She hopped on the Inkrail and swam over to the next area. Then she jumped out of it and landed on the ground.

Like Area 1, the second was swept clean of plant life other than stumps. It looked like a skatepark, though it appeared to not follow any safety standards. There was no sound there except for the blowing of the wind and the rattle of Four’s Dualies as they clicked together.

One dropped next to Four, her Roller perched on her shoulder. “That’s... it, right?”

In the dead center of the skatepark was a basket, made out of a net held open with hoops of plastic. The brim was metal, and there was a pole on one corner holding a flag emblazoned with the Grizzco logo.

Several wires extended from the top of the basket, spreading apart and leading to places they couldn’t see due to the fog. It looked like a large flower, thriving even without any sunlight.

Inside the basket, there were several large orbs, each holding an unmoving, unborn Salmonid that looked suspiciously like a fish’s skeleton.

Each egg gave off a faint glow, so with their combined luminosity, they created a beacon of light in the fog

Four approached the basket and tugged on the net, but it wouldn’t break. “The net’s too tough. Should we break the wires... Uh, somehow?”

They looked more like tubes of liquid than wires, giving off faint bursts of light every now and then. One jumped, hooking her Roller on three low-hanging wires all leading to the same place in the fog. She weighed them down, allowing Four to grab them and pull. 

“These things a-aren’t breaking,” Four said. She tried to pull them, tried to get whatever it was hooked up to closer to them, and somehow, it worked.

With a little bit of a pull, something _creaked _in the fog. It sounded like metal, groaning under the sudden strain.

“Move!” cried One. She pulled Four, who let go of the wires, with her, leaping into the Inkrail just as something came breaking through the fog and crashing down to destroy the basket.

The eggs in it all popped, leaving a puddle of whatever liquid that was and a bunch of melting Salmonid offspring flopping in it. The booming sound echoed in the valley, resonating as it bounded between the mountains.

Four almost got hit in the head with a piece of shrapnel. It whizzed by her ear as she made it back to Area 1. “I... I didn’t pull that hard...” Her ears were still ringing from the deafening crash.

“Because we were still building that, genius,” rumbled a voice from directly above. It sounded exactly like Mr. Grizz, low and demeaning, but without the accent. His voice was amplified by some sort of speaker, and the only other indication that he was there was a single foglight, seemingly floating in the air.

As the light drew closer to where they were standing, they stepped backwards, out of the way and staring carefully at it. It came closer, revealing that’s it was hanging from the UFO that floated around Octo Valley.

The UFO was made of many pieces of metal stitched together like a quilt and designed to be a perfect circle. There was somebody on it, but a purple cloak was draped across him, face hidden by the shadow of its hood. His eyes were narrow and barely reflective, revealing only blackness.

“You know my name, right?” He looked down at his feet, hiding his face even more. “Octrope. I suppose there’s no point in hiding it.”

Four tensed. She drew her Dualies, pointing them at his figure. This is the guy that founded Grizzco. The one that took Octavio’s position.

Her fingers twitched on the triggers, but she knew they wouldn’t reach. He was too high.

Akash sighed, a raspy and strained sound. “Go,” he said, to unknown shadows in the fog, “fire at will.”


	12. Eagle’s Cry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the total chapter count changes already. I split a chapter here, so now the total is 56. Which will change.

The wind whipped the sides of the giant bird as it soared... somewhere.

Two would’ve been blown off if it wasn’t for the sheer bulk of the bird’s hull shielding her from it. 

Without the foot and talons, the broken leg she grabbed on to was just a hollow pole of metal. Many severed glowing wires surrounded the edges of the pole’s interior, the same yellowish-orange as the joint that Four broke off. They were each leaking some kind of yellow liquid, but touching it didn’t zap her.

Two slithered through the leg to find somewhere safer. After a short flop through the tube, she fell into a larger area of the bird, the main body, probably.

There was enough room for her to stand in the metal-floored area, but wasn’t designed for people to linger. Everywhere she could step was unpleasantly curved, just to fit the model of a bird. Still, Cuttlefish Cabin would fit in there easily, with some room to spare.

But it would crush the glowing wires that provided the only light inside. In addition to the leg, the wires led to the other one, of course. Both seemed to center on the three metal capsules on the other side of the body, all copper. Or was it bronze?

The main body had one proper exit that Two could see, which was a hatch on the bird’s chest area. It must’ve been there for the engineers. 

Two wandered aimlessly inside. What was she going to do? Jump out? No, that was a death wish, what with all the trees and jagged rocks she’d impale herself on.

She couldn’t shoot the wires leading to the head either. The bird would just spiral out of control, crash into some mountain and kill both her and the pilot.

The less deaths in the end, the better. Especially her. She liked to think she was important.

The bird started to slow, nearly toppling Two. She was blind to the outside, left only to hope that they wouldn’t find her. Her headset fell off in Octo Valley, and it was impossible for her to hold her own against several Octarians with a weapon like the Hero Charger.

Two scrambled to the patch of metal between the leg openings, knowing that the bird was about to twist around to land on its remaining leg. It did, and then lowered down to whatever ground there was, the metal straining under the sudden weight.

The bird didn’t fall over, even with the imbalance. Something must’ve been holding it from the outside.

Peering down the leg, she saw a smooth stone floor. And that was it.

_That doesn’t help me! _Two thought. _C’mon, give me something I can use!_

“They really did a number on it, huh?” exclaimed a booming voice from outside. It was in the Octarian language, but Two understood every word. “Open the hatch, see if there’s any internal damage, we need to fix this before General Octrope sees.”

_General? So now he’s a general?_

Something told Two that he was giving that title to himself.

She was in enemy territory, deep into it. If she didn’t find a way to hide soon...!

In a desperate attempt to do something, she flipped the ink tank on her back and dumped it all down the leg.

It all pooled down on the floor, hiding the stone in a sheet of green ink.

Somebody loudly groaned outside, the same Octoling from before.

Two jumped down, diving into the ink pool she just made. It was still expanding.

She braced herself for someone to mention that someone just fell into that pool of ink, but nobody did. Did that stupid trick work?

The bird, apparently, landed in a hangar specifically designed for it. Claws mounted on the walls, also metal, grabbed its wings and head, preventing it from falling over. There was no ceiling; the hangar showed an open, blue sky.

The Octoling she had heard earlier was standing on one of the narrow pathways near the top of the hangar. He was guarded by other Octoling soldiers, but he wasn’t with earring the Hypno-Shades.

The metal hatch on the bird’s chest fell open, then someone stepped inside. The ceiling slid until it was closed, hiding the sky again.

Artificial lights turned on, surrounding the bird in a bright glint. 

“The Eagle was supposed to be the peak of our technology!” exclaimed the man on the pathway. “Do we know what the problem was?”

_Eagle... _Two thought, _So it’s called the Eagle..._

It was nothing like one of the the Great Octoweapons or Octobosses. Those all had at least a small amount of biological components.

This, on the other hand... they redesigned an airplane and weaponized it. Like that Grizzco boat, but leagues more dangerous.

Two wondered if they found that boat yet. Four sent it out to the ocean, so...

The puddle she hid in wasn’t getting any bigger. Doing anything other than waiting would reveal her, so that’s exactly what she did.

The guy above her was still screaming about the Eagle’s damage. His voice echoed incredibly well in the hangar. “They shot the- They reached it? I said to fly farther so it would be out of range! And they shot the leg off... Well, we did figure that out in testing, but that’s the only material that wouldn’t dissolve in the Golden Egg’s liquid! Unless we were to use our own flesh, but that isn’t happening.”

Two did recall that the liquid leaking from the wires — or were they pipes? — seemed to melt the metal. She was fine, but that was natural immunity.

“We could reinforce the joints with more steel plates, but then they wouldn’t bend as easily, which is vital for a machine such as the Eagle...” He leaned on the railing separating him and the Eagle, staring at the transparent head. Did the pilot leave already? “Turning around isn’t as important for the neck... Reinforce that joint and that joint only. And I’ll a team on finding a better pipe.”

Grumbling to himself, he hastily left the path. His guards followed robotically behind him.

As their metallic footsteps slowly grew silent, the hangar’s only noice was that of the presumed engineers inside of the Eagle. Two was left alone there.

She took the opportunity and jumped out of the dense pool of ink, running straight to the shadow under the pathway. Nobody noticed her. Good.

The shadow did little to conceal her, but at least nobody on it could see her since she was directly under it. She snuck to the wall, pressing her back against it, and prepared to fire her Charger if it came to that.

She sidled against the wall, slowly getting closer to the door at the end of the hangar. The engineers were all inside the Eagle, deaf to her movements from the drilling and whatnot going on in there.

As Two reached the door, she tested the knob. It was unlocked. Of course it was, why would it be locked from the outside? 

She pressed her back against it, staring at the Eagle’s back as she slowly twisted the doorknob. As soon as the door gave way and opened, she whirled around to look outside, aiming her Charger out of the crack in the doorframe.

No guards. She tuned left, then right, then behind her. Nobody had spotted her.

Two grinned devilishly as she strolled outside onto the field.

The hangar appeared to be just a repurposed, abandoned warehouse. Paint was chipping off the outer walls, and there some patches of rust near the bottom.

Passing through the grassy field was a dirt road that forked, leading to many more short, run-down buildings. Two guessed that they looked a lot better from the inside.

The whole Octarian outpost stood in a clearing, surrounded by trees that reached high above the hangar. Only one side had no plant life blocking it, and that side was the one the Eagle flew over, overlooking a stony cliff. 

The forest surrounding them was the Seadragon Wood, a large area dense with trees just outside of Inkopolis.

Two couldn’t run through the forest; she’d get lost. And she needed to get back to Octo Valley as soon as possible. One and Four needed her.

She almost kicked herself for jumping onto the Eagle.

_The Eagle... Could I...?_

Four said that the Grizzco boat was easy to sail. If the Eagle was made by the same people...

But even the boat was too complex for her! And the Eagle was getting repairs right then!

Still what other choice did she have? Run to Octo Valley?

Two grimaced. She came to that decision quickly, but she knew it was stupid. Besides. It couldn’t be that hard to fly, right? It would do all of the necessary things automatically, right?

When the engineers were done, they’d leave. That would take a while, so Two finally released the trigger, aiming at the hangar’s wall. She swam up and perched on the slightly curved rooftop. 

She could see Octo Valley, and thought she could see a tall phone tower falling over.


	13. Complete Turnaround

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, guys, I know I said weekly, but I didn’t have one up last week.  
I made up for it with two chapters, though, right?

_The truck, _Four thought. _The truck would give some cover!_

She ran back to the other side of Area 1, holding One by the wrist. She braced herself to get hit by a stray splash, but either everything missed her, or nobody was firing.

Akash just ordered... someone to shoot them, so they should at least hear a gunshot, right?

As Four dove next to the message board's remains and the fog cleared in front of her, she did not see the truck.

The only thing there was Sheldon, curled up in his helmet laying flat on the ground.

She growled. They were out in the open. The truck was gone, and Sheldon couldn't protect all of them in that tiny shell.

One dropped a Splash Wall at her feet, protecting both of them on one side, then a volley of ink flew at it out of the fog. It snapped the wall in half as One and Four ran in opposite directions.

"No, come back!" Four yelled. The last thing they needed to do was to split. Grimacing, she pivoted and ran back in the other direction, not knowing where she was going because of the fog.

The Inkrail faded into view again, so she jumped into it, narrowly avoiding a direct hit from a far-off Charger. She fell back into Area 2, now half-destroyed from the phone tower she pulled down.

At least, she thought it was a phone tower.

The fog was thinner there, so she could see that the liquid from the Golden Eggs was dripping off the far side. One was there, swinging her Roller sideways to launch a particularly tall Octocommander into the foggy pit below them.

Before Four could call out to her, the deafening call of the Eagle pierced the air again. Her stomach sank. She shot her glance around, but the only thing she could see was more fog.

Four dove closer to the collapsed phone tower. The cover it gave was little, but it was better than nothing. One joined her there, slipping between the web of metal and landing where the basket used to be.

The Eagle cried again, but neither of them could see it. They sat there with their minuscule cover, waiting for the Eagle, or a stray shot, or maybe someone to save them.

"One," Four said desperately, "I just met you, but-"

Yet another cry broke her sentence. Once it echoed away, the only sound left was the sound of the Eagle's thrusters.

The bird threateningly hovered above them, preparing to land near the collapsed tower. Why... why did the firing stop?

It slowly dropped, planting its legs on the ground. Once the thrusters deactivated, it stood still, facing forward, with the tips of its metal wings spread in a straight line.

They drew their weapons again, preparing for another hopeless skirmish. Both legs were on the Eagle, even though they broke one off earlier. Somehow, they fixed it in the time it took for them to destroy the basket.

The clear bulb it had instead of a head swung backwards, leaving it open. It was barely perceptible in the fog, but someone jumped out. Four crept toward it, One trailing behind her.

They jumped out, but what did that mean?

"Sorry!" the shadow suddenly called. "The communicator didn't work!"

One's Roller clattered on the ground. Four holstered her Dualies again and breathed a sigh of relief.

Two stepped into view only to be immediately tackled to the ground by One.

"Stop that, Cal- uh... We're too close to the edge!" Two struggled to get her off. "We're still in enemy territory!"

"No. I'm staying right here." One frowned, still holding Two tightly.

Four shifted uncomfortably at the very aggressive affection. She was indescribably relieved that Two was back, but this wasn't what she expected. Not wanting to intrude on this oddly-timed act of family bonding, she said, "Uh. I'll... uh. Go check on Sheldon."

It was baffling to see how quickly a situation could change.

Without waiting for a reply, she swam back. The Eagle's sudden entrance did nothing to the fog, so she picked what she thought was the right direction and went there.

Sheldon was there, still under his helmet. It was entirely covered in dark purple ink.

Four fired a Dualie to give herself a path, then approached the trembling, purple helmet. She knocked on it. "Hey. Come out. We're safe."

Upon hearing her voice, Sheldon popped out. The small amount of ground he covered was completely clean; no ink coated the circular spot he hid on.

"What happened?" Four said blankly.

He stepped back, making some ink drip off of his helmet. "What happened!? I was here the whole time, I couldn't see-"

"To the truck."

"O-oh. The truck," he stuttered. "Uh, well, they took it. Two Octolings took it while you were away. One was really muscular and the other really short. They literally kicked me out! See? I still have the bruise."

Four quickly ran her eyes across him. "No, you don't."

"Okay, fine, I jumped out before they could do anything! They refilled the tank and drove away. I managed to save this, though!" Sheldon pulled the flashlight weapon out of his front pocket and dangled it in front of himself. "I've decided to call it the Inkwhip!"

"But you lost the truck." Four leaned in closer to his face, squinting accusingly. She must've looked gigantic through those goggles.

"...Yeah."

"With all of the weapons inside."

"I can make more of them!"

"That's not the point," Two said from behind. One stood behind her, shadow-like in her behavior. "The point is that the enemies have the Hero weapons now. Don't bother making more. We all have our best weapons saved. Right, Four?" She turned to her, adjusting her sunglasses. Somehow, she was accustomed to wearing those in places with limited visibility.

"Right..." She said that to Two, but she looked at One worriedly. She was five years younger than her, but when Two was gone, she still felt way older. Four didn't blame her, though. She was going through a tough time. "What now?"

"We just did a quick check of everything," Two explained. "That's all there's is to do here. Good job pulling down that tower. They really should've worked on the foundation first."

"I hate to intrude on this," Sheldon chimed, "but how are we getting back?"

"We'd use the truck if we still had it," Four chided as she crossed her arms. "Cough."

Two looked at her weirdly. Did she just say "cough" out loud? "Th-that's enough, Four," she said. "Anyway, we'll use that Eagle thing. You guys can ride in the... rest of it." She didn't know how else to say that. Body? Hull? "It's actually more like a really fast helicopter with extra weapons than a plane. And I know how to fly a helicopter." She grinned, baring her teeth confidently.

One nervously laughed behind her. "Between the two of us, we own four. H-helicopters, I mean."

* * *

Cap'n Cuttlefish stood next to the door of Cuttlefish Cabin, vigilantly waiting for the return of the rest of the Splatoon.

He wondered when he stopped using the "t" in "captain" when introducing himself. It had to have been at least two years ago, because that's when Agent 3-

No, this wasn't important. They were taking a while to get back, even taking the travel time into consideration. Who knows what they might have encountered?

He shot a glance at Octavio's corner with his large, round eyes. He was being quiet. Too quiet.

Wait, that's because this globe had a sound muffling system near the base.

The hot pink folding screen that separated his corner from the rest of the outpost just barely reached above the top of the sphere.

Its frame was made of bamboo. It reminded the old captain of his cane. He didn't really need it as a cane, it was just a Bamboozler in disguise. But he needed to keep the appearance of a frail, old man so any potential enemies would underestimate him.

At least, that's what he liked to think of himself.

He hobbled over to the corner. Octavio must've seen his silhouette in the room divider, which wasn't very thick to begin with. Cap'n Cuttlefish swung it aside with his free hand.

Octavio was already glaring at him, one eye more open than the other, from the inside of the globe. It was about time he had some scenery other than that one side he had. Cuttlefish walked back to the door and sat on the cushion.

Immediately after, Octavio began rapidly tapping on the glass. Was he trying to escape again?

He jumped off of the cushion, pointing the Bamboozler at the globe. It usually splatted with two direct hits, but with an enemy of this size, it might take three.

Octavio stopped tapping once he saw he caught Cuttlefish's attention. He pointed with one of his unoccupied tentacles to the sky he could now see.

Cuttlefish spared a glance at the Eastern sky. He _was _pointing at something. It looked like... a bird... no... it's massive, it couldn't be. And it was rapidly approaching!

What was that? Another Great Octoweapon? But it... it didn't seem to run on ink.

Octavio didn't look relieved at all. Either this wasn't a rescue vehicle, or he was faking something.

The bird slowed as it passed overhead, overtaking the serene silence with its booming thrusters. The whole thing rotated, pointing its head to the sky, and landed on its feet next to the cabin.

If he couldn't see it, he would have guessed it was a car crash with how loudly it landed.

A circular panel on its chest flipped open, followed by its entire head. Two jumped out of it, gracefully landing on the ground. "Sorry, Captain," she laughed, "but we lost the truck."


	14. Green-Eyed Glare

Two sighed deeply, knowing exactly what would happen if she hit the muffle button on the base of Octavio's globe. But that was probably the only way to get him to stop repeatedly tapping the glass, and enduring a few minutes of his yelling was preferable to an hour of tapping.

There was no way he was trying to escape; even if he was, he was outnumbered four-to-one.

Sheldon didn't count. He already left, and even if he was there, what would he do?

Two looked behind her. One already went back to hiding behind the cabin, so she wasn't there. Four was trying to pose menacingly with her arms crossed and chin up, but seeing her next to the captain, hunched and drooling, made her look more like an unqualified nursing home employee.

Of course, the captain didn't belong in a nursing home. He was better than that. Despite his looks, he's aged tremendously.

Two squinted at Four again. What was she trying to accomplish with that pose? Even though she was one of the most talented people she'd ever met, Four was quite the child.

Two shook her head and went back to the globe. Mentally preparing herself, she stepped on the small, red muffle button. "Please stop that tapping," Two said flatly before he could start spouting. "We're kinda busy here."

"What is that!?" he bellowed. Somehow, his voice echoed even from inside the globe. He pointed the same tentacle he was using to tap the glass at the Eagle, standing with its head and chest hatch open next to the cabin.

Two shrugged. "Like I would know."

"Eagle?" Four offered. She dropped the pose and returned to standing like a normal person. "You said 'Eagle,' right?"

Octavio turned to her. "I never said to- Was this Octrope again!?"

"Probably?" Two shrugged once again. "Look, right now we're after Three, and-"

"He's in a kettle in the city!" Octavio shouted. "Don't you know where-"

"We know," Four interrupted. She held a hand up, but that wouldn't much against Octavio. "Hit the button again, I don't want to hear this anymore."

"Wait," said Cap'n Cuttlefish. He pushed through to the front, facing Octavio directly. "Why would you tell us that?"

After that, they peered suspiciously at each other, waiting for the other to act. Octavio growled deeply and angrily. The staring match looked like a battle for dominance between two sharks.

Two broke the stare before it could get any worse by shoving herself between them. "You know, I also heard someone call him 'General Octrope,' what's up with that?"

"He-" Octavio turned to the side and hit his head against the glass. "He's not. Get your precious Agent 3 back and catch this fake general," he growled.

"Oh, we're planning that first part." One burst out from behind the cabin, kicking some dirt up in the process. "We'd have him if you didn't kidnap him," she scoffed.

Octavio turned to her gravely. "You."

"Me!"

"One, get back," Two warned. She held an arm up to block her from getting closer. Octavio knew Callie's voice too well, and if he heard One talk any more, her cover was blown.

Four rushed towards the globe and dove for the button, hitting it before either of them could continue. She slowly looked up, but through some miracle, Octavio wasn't staring at her. He was staring at the captain again. He looked huge from where she was.

Two had One by the arms, holding her back as she struggled to free herself. One switched, allowing her smaller-than-average squid form to slip out.

Before she could storm towards Octavio again, Four slammed the pink folding screen back down. It was more than a physical wall to One; she could easily knock it down, but the mental aspect was still there. She clenched her fist and turned around.

Two took her hand and pulled her away. "Yeah, I think it's time for another talk in the cabin." She picked her up and literally carried One away.

Four watched as the wooden door slammed shut again. That was twice in the same day. She respected Two — No, it was Marie in this case — for helping Callie like that.

Rose didn't know her very well. What she did know was that Callie didn't have many memories from when she was brainwashed. Like it was a dream, pushed to her subconscious when she woke up.

Of course, she'd remembered some things. Like where Agent 3 was and how Golden Eggs affect wireless connections.

Four averted her gaze from the cabin. It made her uncomfortable to stare at it for that long. "What now... uh, Captain?" she questioned, reaching to change the subject.

He turned to her slowly, breaking his stare with the pink folding screen and dropping the defensive demeanor. "Well, uh... I think you're invading that lab tonight again."

"Tonight!?" Four exclaimed. "Again!?" She put her hands on her hips. That single sentence made her completely forget about what just happened with Octavio. "Ugh... Tell them I'm out doing... something, I don't know what it is."

* * *

"Because of course I'm here," Rose muttered to herself as she walked into Deca Tower.

She really needed to find a new hobby.

No, her "job" in the NSS didn't count. The whole thing was pretty much more Turf Wars, but... spicier.

"Oh hey, you again," a voice said from in front of her. Rose recognized the voice, but it wasn't too familiar.

She looked up to see... what was his name? The one that worked backstage for the Squid Sisters?

Sid, right. That's him. She met him the day before, the day when Callie accidentally dropped her sunglasses.

Rose felt short standing in front of him and his ridiculous height. "Hey," She said boredly. Anxious to fight, she walked past him and into the lobby

Whoever designed Deca Tower made some weird design choices. The only floor inside of it was the ground floor. Everything above it was just a tall pole for advertising.

There was a basement, but those were only for the lobbies.

The odd designs on the walls flashed across them, using a bunch of tiny lightbulbs to give the illusion of movement.

"Wait, hold on!" Sid urged. He caught up to her and whispered, "Don't say anything, but I think those two are... look."

He very obviously pointed directly towards two others in the rotunda. Those were clearly Callie and Marie to Rose, but in their public disguises.

Wait, no. Here, they were Lie and Rie. Those names sounded cheesy as heck, but they've probably been using them for a long time. Rose only had two names, but they had three each. It must've been confusing.

Once again, Marie was still trying to deal with her hair.

Rose nonchalantly approached them as Sid hesitantly and timidly followed. "Hey, this guy says he worked backstage for you guys," she commented, "is that true?"

"Whoa, you can't just-"

"Oh, yeah, definitely," interrupted Callie. She pushed herself off of the glass wall and stood up straight. "Hi, Sid. It's been a while. You've gotten taller again."

"Uhh..." Sid gaped. Did she just... walk up to them and start talking? "Rose, you know these two?"

"Maybe," Marie groaned. She gave up on trying to untangle her hair and just let it hang like that behind her head. She looked very annoyed. "By the way, Rose, we knew where you were going before you did," she teased.

"Wha-" She... she got her there. Rose only told the captain that she was going to do something. She didn't give him a specific because she didn't know what the specific was. Was she that predictable?

"Also, yeah. Tonight," Marie continued. "We're going tonight." She was talking about the lab again, right?

"Then I have time to kill!" Rose shouted. She marched further into the tower, prompting Callie and Marie to hurriedly follow after her.

Before stepping in, though, Callie turned back. "We need a fourth," she admitted to an extremely baffled Sid. "Come on."

"Wait, what?" he mumbled. Literally two days ago, they were both missing, and now that they were back, they were just thrusting themselves into the public like this? Didn't they have some super personal stuff to get through?

Or maybe they already did, and they were just coming back now.

But what does Rose have to do with any of it? It looked like she'd known them for a while, but that would be hard when they were missing.

Hesitantly, Sid followed, his Octobrush strapped to his back and his hands in his pockets.

They had a pretty good win streak.


	15. Something to Do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so I didn’t split a chapter this time. I added one. Full of transition stuff. Yay.

It seemed like Rose was the type of person who was motivated by victory, because as soon as the win streak ended, she left the tower. Marie, of course, was the first to notice. She'd built a habit of scrutinizing everything she does.

"What's her problem?" Callie chuckled. "We didn't lose _that_ badly."

"I'd say that a difference of thirty percent is badly," Marie said curtly. She stepped back out of the Tower, taking a deep breath now that they were out of the humid lobbies. "And her? Don't worry about it, she'll be fine in about seven minutes." She slung her weapon around her shoulder, looking to the orange hues on the horizon. The second Lab raid was at midnight. "It's getting late. Let's head home, 'cause... yeah."

"So..." interjected Sid, uncomfortably shuffling to them. "Did... something... happen?" As socially oblivious as he usually was, he could tell that something was wrong, at least before then. Going missing for half a year doesn't happen on a regular basis.

"Heh," started Callie, ignoring his sudden appearance. She looked at him, her cap giving her face a dark shadow. "You don't wanna know." Then she turned back to Marie like nothing happened.

Sid's eyes widened in shock. That was his cue to back off. There was a weird look in her eyes, one that she never had before. He even saw it through the sunglasses, that there was something wrong.

Something _did_ happen, but it wasn't any of his business. As much as he wanted to press the topic, he pulled back, accidentally tripping over his Brush. He grunted as he hit the floor. "I'm okay!" he called from the floor as pulled himself back up.

Neither of them turned back to check on him.

* * *

"Stupid E-Liter campers..." Rose muttered to nobody in particular. She kicked the door to her room open. Annoyed, she looked at the nearest clock in her room, which happened to be really hard to see from her angle.

"Agh, there's still four hours!" she yelled. Her outburst didn't do much to help that, though. Other than waste half a second.

Something in her wanted to break the nearest window. Another wanted to jump out of said window.

Of course, jumping out of a window wouldn't hurt her at all. Inklings — and by extension, Octolings — could survive a fall from any height without a scratch.

On the other side of the room, her Hero Suit was hanging in the closet, mocking her, telling her to become Agent 4 again. She had no problem with her not-so-secret life as Rose, but being a part of the NSS was just so... exciting for her. What she did _mattered_! It wasn't just thrown away, like the end of a Turf War, it changed Inkopolis!

She had a pretty big hand in rescuing Callie and the Great Zapfish. Thinking about that thrilled her. Even though nobody would ever know other than the rest of the NSS, just doing something good was enough.

Rose looked at the clock again. Sitting and thinking on her tiny bed took exactly seven minutes. Three hours and fifty-three more minutes to go!

She screamed into her pillow. Not only was she not doing anything, every second that passed was another second Agent 3 was trapped!

That was more important, right?

But what would happen after they rescued Agent 3? Would they keep chasing after this "Akash" guy? How much of a threat was he?

So far, the only red flag he'd shown was capturing Agent 3. Wait, no, that wasn't even him that did that. That was Octavio. Then the only red flag was attacking them at Grizzco and with the Eagle. Yeah.

That sounded like a pretty big red flag, but it was nothing compared to the many big flags Octavio had. Also, Akash was actually helping the Octarian society without hurting Inkopolis through Grizzco.

Wait, no! There was also the "collection of random Inklings for research." That was hurting Inkopolis, so it was another flag for

That was two for Akash, and how many corn DJ Oc? There was the Zapfish, twice, Callie, Agent 3, almost killing her, and...

Two for Akash, a lot for Octavio.

Okay, that was the end of that train of thought. On to the next one. She instinctively looked around her room to find something to think about.

The bright color of the Hero Suit caught her eye again. The Hero Dualies, which were unofficially hers now, hung next to it, hooking on like two broken hangers.

* * *

The unspoken Octavio watcher was Captain Cuttlefish. Somebody had to do it. But there was something noble about doing nothing for a good cause.

At least he was used to standing in one place for long periods of time. In Octo Valley, his sole job was to talk to Agent 3 through a microphone. Which didn't involve much walking.

And then what happened six months ago, in that underground subway with Agent-

No, she said that never happened. That one wanted to keep everything a secret, and the captain respected her wishes.

If his memory was correct, there were only two Octolings on the surface. Her and the tall DJ. Marina, was it?

It was a sad case with the DJ. Her fame would become her downfall. As soon as someone underground caught word of her being on the surface, someone else would come to drag her back down. There was nothing he could do, though. He already warned her and her small partner shortly after their escape, but they assured him that they'd be safe.

The other, at least, would stay hidden, what with everything she did to keep her existence a secret.

An sound echoing from the manhole interrupted his thoughts. Someone was swimming through. It didn't sound like One, or Two, for that matter. And it certainly wasn't Agent 3.

So that left-

"Hey Cap' I'm waiting the rest of the time here!" Four flopped out of the entrance and onto the couch next to the tree. She welcomed its comforting softness as she sank into it.

Cuttlefish just looked on, not the least bit surprised. Between his own experiences and Agent 3's, he'd seen — and done — some weird things himself.

There were still just under four hours left, though. What was she thinking? Boredom, probably. It was always boredom with these young ones.

They sat in silence for the time being. What would a pair like this talk about? He went back to his job of Octavio watching and left Four to do... whatever it was she was doing.

Less than ten minutes passed before she stood back up and walked somewhere else. It was where she went that alerted Cuttlefish. Octavio's corner.

He let her stare at the folding screen, but he kept his guard up if Octavio happened to break out. She wasn't doing anything other than admiring the design.

...Of the single color.

For a second, he looked away. And there it was. The Eagle. The most majestic — and deadly — machine he'd ever seen. How was it powered?

Based on what Two told him, it was a bunch of Salmonid Golden Eggs. And according to One, they interrupted wireless connections. Is that why Two's communicator temporarily went offline?

Anyway, what was the most impressive part was the Agents stole this... Eagle. The whole thing. Granted, it cost six of the Hero Weapons, but in return, they got one giant one.

"So how much of a threat do you think this Akash guy is?"

The captain turned back, away from the Eagle. That was Four's voice. He opened his mouth to answer, but to his dismay, she wasn't talking to him.

She was talking to Octavio. Cuttlefish stopped himself from stopping them, since that was actually a very good question.

"And how I supposed to know that?" he snapped.

"I dunno," Four said boredly. "Maybe because you hate him so much?"

"He ordered them to build that!" Octavio yelled, gesturing to the Eagle. "Do you know how much power something like that uses!?"

"Oh, you didn't hear?" said Four curiously. "He's collecting a bunch of Golden Eggs from Salmonids for power instead of the Great Zapfish.

"Wait, those brain-dead fish with the pans? They-" Octavio looked back at the Eagle. "Their eggs can do that!?"

"Apparently. Anyway, is he a threat or not?" Four was getting impatient. If they strayed any farther from the main topic, they'd never get to it.

Octavio breathed in to start talking again, but ended up saying nothing. He stopped for a moment, deep in thought. "He's actually... I dunno. Yeah, he's dangerous. Hates Inklings. Watch your back around him."

Four stood, her foot hovering over the muffle button. "Got it, thanks," she finally said. And with that, she hit the button and dragged the folding screen back. She exhaled slowly when she knew it was safe to do so. Did she just talk to Octavio by herself?

Something was different about him, the captain noticed. That was the most fruitful conversation anyone he knew has had with him since two years ago.

He even warned Four to be careful, when last time, he almost yelled in her face. Did he hate Akash that much?

Between that and him willing to tell them where Three was...

Cuttlefish watched Four stagger back to the couch. "Whoa," she muttered to herself. It seemed like she came to the same conclusion he did.

Akash had one more enemy.


	16. Liberation, Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sans is in smash (but as a mii costume).  
There's no way this is the original timeline, we live in an AU, I swear.

****The Lab was, understandably, much darker than it was the first time. Sure, it was nearing pitch black last time, but now... it was closer to pitch black.

It should have held the three back, but if anything, it propelled them forward. No power meant that the electromagnetic door that Four mentioned was open, and that brought them closer to Three.

"Here's the door," Four said a bit too loudly. She turned around excitedly only to be met with Two shushing her.

...And One said absolutely nothing. It must've been difficult to reach the optimal volume with that mouth mask.

Ignoring Two's warning, Four gripped the handle and pulled it. To her surprise, the door effortlessly swung open and just barely missed her face. "Ow," she said on instinct, even though nothing touched her.

Nobody else reacted.

The beeline they made for the door earlier was empty; there was nobody there, as far as they knew. Four peeked in with one eye and saw nothing. Grimacing, she pulled the door open the rest of the way and opened fire at the darkness.

Still, nothing was there.

"Stop," Two said. She came as close to he doorframe as possible without going inside. "Four, drop an Autobomb."

"On it!" Four reached for her back, at the top of her ink tank, and pressed the lid. When she brought her hand back, a small, robotic contraption was in her hand. She tossed it inside.

The Autobomb landed on its side, righted itself so its feet were on the ground, and promptly exploded in place.

"It's empty," Two said with a hint of disbelief. "Did they all take the day off?"

"W-we still don't know what's inside," One interjected. She didn't have to explain further. Who knows, the room could have absolutely nothing inside.

Four pushed her way back to the front. "Welp, I'm going in," she said. Before anyone could talk her out of it, she bolted in while firing wildly in every possible direction.

Two held a hand out in a failed attempt to catch her. "Wait, Four-!"

The firing continued. Two dropped her hand when the firing stopped.

"I'm okay!" Four called. There was an echo to her voice. It must've been a long room. "C'mon, it's fine!"

One turned around. Still nobody. They should've been relieved at the lack of enemies, but too little of them probably meant something bad. None, even more so. One timidly walked backwards, facing the hall, towards the place from which Four called.

Across the room, Four continued her march forward almost tripped over something, but she stopped her foot before she did. She bent over and leaned closer to it, and saw that she was peering down yet another kettle. The bottom was barely visible, just another floor that looked just as stony as the rest of the Lab.

"Huh, that's weird, a kettle in a kettle?" Two remarked next to her, mimicking her thoughts perfectly. When... when did she get there?

"Th-the room ends here," Four noted, gesturing towards the wall just past it. Again, she looked back at the kettle. "One way to go from here, right?"

Two, standing next to her, blinked. Of course, nobody knew that because of the sunglasses on top of the darkness. They actually didn't impair her vision at all; they worked only one way. She opened her mouth to say something, then stopped. "I... I guess not," she said, after a mental remapping of the entire place. The only room they hadn't been to was the one where that one Octoling commanded a bunch of others to attack them.

By the time she said that, Four was already inside.

_She's gonna get herself killed one day, _Two thought as she followed her.

That was quite the dreary thought, but she was used to thinking that. Four tended to throw herself at dangerous situations. Miraculously, she'd always win them by a large margin. Except for the time she fought six of them. That was fifty-fifty.

After the abnormally long drop, Two landed, held her arms up, and nonchalantly caught One. It was a lot easier to catch Callie when she was a squid.

"Hey!" One complained as she squirmed to escape the grasp. "Only _I _get to do that!"

Two smirked as she dropped One next to her. "It's a lot brighter down here," she commented, completely ignoring what she just did.

She was right; there were actual working lights down there. They could see that they were in a large, cylindrical room. The hole for the kettle was the size of a needle's eye above them.

A pit — which was, as far as they cared, bottomless — surrounded the circular platform on all sides, making the floor of the room a reverse-donut. Of course, it wasn't actually bottomless, but if one of them fell down there, they sure weren't coming out.

"Forget the lights!" Four exclaimed in front of them. "Don't you see _that_!?"

What Four was eagerly referring to was a machine which, to her credit, should have been mentioned first.

Standing at the height of Deca Tower was an Inkling-shaped machine. Other than the model, it looked a lot like the Eagle — metal body, glowing joints, clear head. In its right hand was a large cylinder, but it opened up at one end, revealing only darkness underneath it.

Four went closer to it, testing each step to see if it would react. From there, she couldn't see the head clearly, so if there was a pilot in there, they weren't doing much piloting.

She stopped, four steps from the machine's foot. Something inside her compelled her to back away. Maybe it was her own instincts, maybe it was something she saw.

"We're in danger," Four said calmly as she stepped back, close to the others. She drew her Dualies and and hovered her fingers over the triggers.

A moment of silence passed over the room.

"Freedom," said a voice, breaking that silence. "What does it mean?" Whoever it was, he sounded saddened by something.

All three of the very looked around, trying to find where the voice came from.

"Th-that's him!" One shouted. That was his voice, she realized, the one she hadn't heard for half a year. "Three, you're..."

"I don't think I was free," he continued.

Two squinted at the clear head, looking for someone inside, but she couldn't see a thing from her angle.

"I wonder," he said. "Can you set me free?"

As soon as the last word left the speakers dotting the walls, the machine started to stir, moving like it was a statue breaking from its stillness. Its arms swung outwards, it stood up straight.

And, from the cylinder it was holding, a stream of purple ink sprouted, growing until it fell into the pit. A gigantic Inkwhip.

Sheldon excitedly told all of them about the prototype already, but was it really complete? And this big?

No words of action were needed. When the machine raised its right hand up, bringing the base of the Inkwhip with it, the three split. Four sprinted closer as One and Two took both sides.

_The largest disadvantage to being bigger is being slower, _Two thought, running to the side. _We'll have to exploit that._

Four swam between its legs, leaping out of the stream to fire at both of the glowing spots at its ankles. She cut holes in both, leaving them leaking, but it wasn't enough to break off the feet. She felt something coming from behind her, so she ducked and rolled to her right.

The giant Inkwhip flew by as Four barely dodged it. As she went back to swimming in the ground, she saw that everything it touched left purple ink on it.

Luckily for them, this included one of the feet.

One ran to where Four was and charged to the foot that broke. There was a fiery glint in her eyes. She was fighting a lot more vigorously, Four noticed.

One swung her Roller sideways at the foot and sent it sliding across its own purple ink trail. It tipped over the edge of the platform and fell.

Now lacking a foot, the machine staggered, using one hand to keep wildly flicking its Inkwhip and the other to press against the wall and keep it upright.

Two released a shot at the other foot, drilling another hole to join the many in its ankle, and jumped backwards as the Inkwhip trailed in front of her. After it passed, she shot one of the knees. It didn't do much other than leave a negligible pinprick.

Two grimaced. Her weapon was next to useless here! She took another step back and looked at the battlefield, trying to think of something she could do other than slowly cut holes in the large, orange spots on the machine.

The machine was relentlessly swinging its Inkwhip at One and Four, who were continuously dodging left and right, forward and back. It was weakly moving its hand to keep the weapon near them, and it seemed to forget about Two entirely.

It was relying on one hand and one foot to keep upright. If the other foot was gone, it'd be on even footing again.

But if the hand was gone...

"The wrist!" Two yelled furiously at One and Four. If the hand was gone, it would fall.

"On it!" Four yelled back. After sidestepping the Inkwhip one last time, she swam to the intact foot. She shot a path for herself up the leg and quickly started to swim upwards. The wall was too far to even attempt to reach.

One dodged the same swing that Four did and followed her up the leg. _Don't worry, Three, _she thought.

Two charged forward, getting right under the Inkwhip hand, and fired directly up. Even from the closest place she could be, she barely reached it.

It still did nothing.

By then, the pilot noticed One and Four. The right hand turned, flicked, and sent the other end after them.

Four saw this, turned back, and swam to the knee. Nobody could see it, but she was smirking. Before the Inkwhip hit them, Four kicked out of the leg and snatched One out of the ink. Together, they fell.

"Sorry," Four whispered.

The Inkwhip, as it hit the knee, sliced through the orange glow.

All Four did was drop One by her side and run. Two backed off, watching the machine as its leg tipped to the side and dragged itself and the foot down into the abyss.

It wasn't what Two thought about doing, but this worked, too.

The machine crashed onto its remaining leg, tipped over, and dropped to the ground, making the metal sheets scrape into each other. The head didn't shatter; the hands stopped it before the head hit the floor.

There _was _someone in there, but they were just a blur as they stumbled on the side of the glass.

"Heh," Four taunted as the noise died down. "Do I get a big mech, too?" She holstered her Dualies again, proud of herself after her stunt.

In response, it started to push itself back up, forgoing the Inkwhip and tossing it to the pit. In a situation like this, the sensible thing to do would be to get away.

And Four never picked that route.

She left the group, swam to the machine, and hooked her hands to its shoulder before it rose out of reach. The metal on its leg scraped on the floor as it bent, struggling to hold the weight of the rest of it.

Four went up as the shoulder did, bringing her to a frightening height. Both legs detached and fell away, and the torso slammed upright into the floor.

For a moment, it stopped, regaining its statue-like stillness as it rested its hands on the ground. In that moment, Four scrambled up, finding her balance on the curved shoulder.

Then one hand started to rise. It curled its fingers into a fist and slammed the floor, sending the entire room into a loud tremor.

The neck, like the rest of the joints, was glowing as well. Noticing that first, Four opened fire on it and punctured the glow as much as she could in the short time she had.

She sensed someone super jumping to her. It was One. The reticle showing exactly where she would land appeared in her mind, so she crawled out of the way as the other first hit the floor again, almost flattening Two.

When she was sure One would land safely, Four rolled off of the shoulder, firing a final volley of ink at the neck. She watched as One landed on her feet, almost slipped , then slammed her roller into the neck, cutting the whole thing off. It sounded like a knife cutting through rope.

Instead of falling, the glass head floated.

Without a power source, the arms collapsed, lifelessly dropping and breaking apart. One sank into the shoulder so as to not fall off in the shaking.

When the sound died down and the echoes subsided, One looked back up, at the head where the pilot stood, emotionlessly staring at her though the same pair of Hypno-Shades she wore.

It was him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, I'm splitting chapters again. This one, honestly, is the most appropriate to do so. In addition to being the most crucial chapter so far, it was also, originally, the longest.  
I liked the name too much, though. See you in part 2 in probably two weeks instead of one!


	17. Liberation, Part 2

When he was on duty, they called him Agent 3. When he wasn't, he was just Simon.

So... what did that make him then? It looked like he disguised, the Hypno-Shades were on, but he wasn't on duty. One could recognize him anywhere, but was that really him in there? Or was it just a shadow of what he used to be?

"S... Th-three?" One called. Panting, she heaved herself up, waiting for someone, even herself, to think of something else to say. He didn't respond. One edged closer to the glass, calling louder. "Three?"

She was desperately reaching for a response. There was no way she could break the glass, even with the Roller. He didn't even open his mouth, he just kept staring at her through the shades, completely motionless. Like he lost power along with the machine.

A second passed. Then another. One placed her hand on the glass barrier separating them.

_This is still enemy territory, _she thought to herself as she kept her balance on the shoulder. _I have to be careful._

He took a step towards her. She looked up, hopeful.

Then he slowly mouthed something to himself, then kept going, tiredly approaching her. He was struggling to walk, but she couldn't tell why. His hand was pressed on the side of his head, like he was in pain.

"Three!" she said, louder than before. "Can you hear me!"

As he reached the edge of the platform inside the glass, he knelt to close the distance between them. Again, he mouthed something to himself. This time, it transmitted as static through the speakers on the walls. The glass was muffled, like Octavio's globe.

The Hypno-Shades weren't completely on his face. One saw that then, they were sitting crooked in front of his nose, but he didn't seem to notice they were there. His eyes were glossy, like he was looking, but not seeing. "Three..." she whispered.

Did he know who he was looking at? Was he still under their control?

An explosion sounded from the bottom of the head. Thrusters erupted from the circular bottom, the only part of that wasn't made of glass. It rose upwards, taking him out of view. The sudden blast of wind threw One backwards, off the shoulder. She fell, timing her squid form transition into their color of ink to minimize the impact.

Four swam to her, emerging as she approached the lifeless arm of the machine. "What happened up there!?" she said frantically. Her gaze continually jumped between where One landed and the escaping glass orb.

One climbed out of the ink, immediately finding where Three was going. He wasn't controlling it anymore, she could tell. Going up seemed to throw him off balance as well.

There was a new hole at the top of the wall. It looked like it slid open, large enough for the glass orb to slip through. The head was quickly flying to the new exit.

Two pointed her Charger at it, but the aiming laser faded before it reached it. "It's out of range, I can't reach it!" Two yelled over the noise.

One shut her eyes and concentrated on the moving head. Yes... that was his signature, no doubt about it. If she just thought about checking earlier...

"Follow me," she said boldly.

"Wh-wha-?" Four stammered.

One transformed again, fell back onto the ink, and lied there for a brief moment. When every part of her was ready to super jump, she shot upwards, sailing to the head.

As she flew, she caught another glimpse of Three. Again, he was standing still, staring at her with the Hypno-Shades perched on his head. Did something knock them back on?

One landed, and broke into a sprint.

Two and Four dropped in unison behind her. Four let loose a Curling Bomb, which they promptly followed.

The hall they were running through was large, rectangular, and pure white. That was all. There was nothing special about it, it had to have been only a backup plan if the rest of the machine failed.

Eventually, Two and Four caught up to One. She joined them in the chain of Curling Bombs.

_She's swimming... a lot faster, _Two noticed.

The head was gradually increasing the distance between them. Three was still inside, still lifelessly glaring at them.

"I can see something... over there!" Four said between bombs. "It's stopping soon!"

Sure enough, there was an opening on the other side of the hall, showing a dull, grey wall. Three didn't turn around to look at it.

The head reached the other side, and stopped for a moment before staring to rise upwards again. Three seemed unfazed by the momentum change.

Four tossed one last Curling Bomb. It slid forward, then fell as it left the white floor.

"That's a cliff!" Four yelled. She swerved herself to the side and flopped out of the thin trail of ink. Two went the other way, rolling out and stopping as she's came to the wall.

They glanced upwards, then back at One. She leapt out of the trail, continuing to give chase. She spun around midair, then transformed back.

"One!" Two shouted.

In one swift motion, One pulled a Burst Bomb from her ink tank and hurled it upwards, right at the thrusters.

Two looked down, past the end of the white hall, and, to her relief, saw a floor without any holes in it. Two aimed at it and released the trigger of her Charger. It made another small path.

The head stopped. They couldn't see Three, the platform inside blocked their vision.

One fell first. She kept moving from the direction she came from, landing headfirst into the stream that Two made. She swam to the other side of it, then crossed the rest of the room running.

The head's thrusters sputtered as it struggled to keep moving to another hole in the ceiling. The ink from the Burst Bomb seemed to greatly damage it. It tipped over, but before it could fly chaotically around the grey room and slam into the walls, the thrusters shut off altogether.

For a moment, it seemed to hang in the air, suspended by an unseen string, like it was the last part of a broken puppet.

A puppet. That's what Three was. A puppet.

The head fell, slowly and then quickly. A puff of air escaped the thrusters.

When it hit the floor, it shattered, loud enough to be heard clearly from the ceiling. Inside, Three was shielding his head with his arms.

One turned around and hid in the ink.

_He's fine, _she thought confidently. _He's survived worse._

When the ringing of glass on the floor stopped, One peeked out.

Surrounding the platform that was inside the head — the only part was wasn't broken — were several shards of glass, each in varying sizes. Now that things had slowed down, they could get a good look at the new room.

The reason it was grey was because it was all metal. Other than missing the long hole in the floor, it was exactly like the room from before, complete with speakers dotting the walls.

Three was standing in the middle of the platform that was now sitting, crooked, on the floor. He lifted his arm weakly, then dropped it.

One took a cautious step towards him. Was he... free?

In response, the Hypno-Shades fell from his face. It clattered on the floor, but he didn't seem to know they did. He did the same thing she did, taking a step towards her, but then he fell forwards, losing consciousness as he did. He crushed the Hypno-Shades beneath his chest, then lay still.

Two clenched her teeth in the white hall. She stepped into the room and fell. She landed on her feet, her shoes protecting her from the glass.

"W-wait!" Before Four could finish the word, she was already falling after her.

Two placed her hand on Three's back. One was standing, afraid, at the edge of the elevated platform.

"He's alive," Two decided. "A few cuts, but that's all. I'll carry him. Now for a way out..."

"Oh..." Four said apologetically. "Should I... should I have stayed up there?"

"No," Two responded flatly, "we couldn't take him with a jump. Four, try that door. And this time, don't go running in."

"Uh... okay..." In reality, Four didn't see the door before Two pointed it out to her. She released her pent-up breath and went to it. Two was in "serious mode" again. She intimidated Four a lot more when she was like this.

Four put her hand on the door handle. That felt weird. This was the first time she actually raided an Octarian base with doors. Everything else was separated because they were all floating platforms. Was this just a thing that Akash liked to do?

She looked over her shoulder. Two was strapping her Charger to her back while One stared intently at the unconscious Three.

_So that's him... _she thought. _Wonder how good he is..._

Based on what Two had told her in Octo Canyon, he was the best out of all of them. "No offense to you, of course," she had said though her headset.

She stopped herself. She was taking too long to open this simple door. Four pulled the handle, and it didn't almost hit her in the face this time. Unlike the one on the floor above, this one had lights beyond it.

"Uh...? It's clear..." she called. "But there's... how do I explain this?"

"What is it?" Two said from directly behind her.

Four jumped and instinctively reached for her Dualies. That was second time that night Two had materialized behind her. She had mastered the art of silent walking, even with these weird boots. One was right next to her, periodically glancing at Two.

Four , embarrassed, shuffled to the side. "I think I found the captives," she finished.

"What?" Two exclaimed

"What?" One echoed.

One burst through the doorframe, and she saw that Four was right. The next room over was in a straight line, but it was as tall as the one before, with clear, white holding cells arranged in a grid amongst the walls and reaching to the ceiling. She could only see Inklings in a few of them, but that didn't tell her how many there were in total.

First Three... and now this? She knew there were captives, but this many?

Four ran in behind her. "I'll scout ahead. Get these cells open." With that, she slid another Curling Bomb across the floor. She reached the end of the hall and disappeared as she turned down another one.

"Four..." Two mumbled. She knelt and placed Three next to the wall, but still kept her Charger on her back. Two scanned the walls for cameras or motion sensors, but there were none that were immediately visible. If every one of these cells was filled there must've been at least thirty- no, forty.

Two grimaced. Octavio never did this...

A question she'd been asking herself for the past few days floated to her mind again. How dangerous is Octrope? If he was willing to do this, that put him above Octavio.

Left with nothing else to do, she went to one of the ground-level cells as One searched the walls for a switch or button that would open all of them at once. There was an Inkling captive inside, wearing the same lime green color that Three wore.

They must've had a sick hatred for that shade of green. It was the NSS's signature color, but they really had to go so far as to dress their prisoners in it. She tapped the glass with the tip of her finger.

The Inkling inside stirred, first lifting her head to look at her. She had short hair, just a few shades lighter than Three's birth color. She tensed.

Two tried to look as gentle as possible, even with the suspicious-looking sunglasses and the combat outfit. She waved lightly, as if to reassure her they were here to free her.

"There's a staircase to the left!" Four's voice abruptly echoed in the hallway. "It leads outside... I think!"

"Good!" One responded, also shouting. "'Cause I just found the right button!" Two looked over to see One punch the wall with horrible form.

She looked back at the prisoner. The glass wall separating them was swinging inwards, towards the prisoner. She slowly and timidly stood up. Two smiled at her. "Come on," she whispered.

"Hey, people I don't know!" Four yelled from the other side. "Look at me, I'm not an Octoling, come on!"

Two guided the captive towards Four, then went back to Three. She slung him over her shoulder.

It looked like her initial estimate of forty was incorrect. She counted thirty-two as they dropped from their cells. That was better than forty, but still... that many?

Two took the end of the line. Everyone was running towards Four, who she hoped was leading them in the right direction. She managed to keep up, and as she entered the intersecting hall, the crowd turned left.

One was blocking the other side. She slammed her Roller sideways into an Octoling and kicked another down. She finished her off with a downward swing.

"Wall!" Two yelled. She could see more running to them in the distance. They could easily take them, but protecting these prisoners was their first priority.

One understood, waving to let her know she did. She reached for her ink tank and pulled a small capsule from it, tossing it in front of her. The capsule unfolded when it hit the floor, rising up and extending outwards. The Splash Wall started to spew ink down at the floor.

One turned and ran with Two. They could see the staircase ahead, and a small bit of moonlight. The prisoner Two talked to was just ahead of them.

Two used her other hand to reach for her Charger as she climbed the staircase. She held the trigger down until she heard the click.

At the top of the staircase, she pivoted, aimed, and released the trigger, catching three Octolings in a straight line. One briefly slowed down.

They walked the rest of the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand here's part 2! Again, not really much to say about this one.


	18. The Cyan-Haired One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, sophomore year is a lot harder than I anticipated. Hopefully next week'll be a longer chapter.

"...and thirty-two. Yup, that's all of them." Two turned around.

It was just barely reaching sunrise. The former prisoners were having mixed reactions to freedom. Some were uncomfortably shuffling in place, others were just staring at whatever was close by. The one thing they all had in common was complete silence.

The other exit to the lab was apparently another abandoned building. As soon as One and Two strolled out, it slammed shut, seemingly on its own.

"Can't see any tracking devices either," Two continued. She said it loudly in an attempt to catch One and Four's attention. Four was blankly scanning the crowd, and One was... guarding the unconscious Three. It was almost impossible to see him in the corner she put him in.

"Uh?" Four asked loudly. "What now?"

Relieved that Four paying at least some attention, Two turned back around at the crowd. "You can go," she said softly in a voice higher than her usual one. "We were never here. Got it?"

A few of them looked up at her.

"I said go! You can... you can go now. Just don't mention us," she squeaked. Two slung her Charger over her shoulder. She didn't want to scare them.

And then they all started walking, backwards and slowly at first, then slightly faster. All in the same direction. Except for one.

Two looked on in pity, shifting her weight to the other leg. How long were they down there? Did anyone know them? What are they going to do with their lives now?

It was impossible to change their experiences. For the rest of their lives, they'll have to live with the fact that they were trapped against their own will for something they didn't do.

And for that reason, Two hated Akash Octrope a little more.

"You see, Four," she said in her normal voice, "that's what you do if we ever find another hostage. Try to be more... gentle than I was." She looked and noticed the one that wasn't moving. She was the one from before, the only one she talked to underground. "Uh..."

"Whoa, hold on," Four broke in before Two could say anything else. "What's your name?"

Two whirled around yet again. Four was, of course, addressing the short, cyan-haired one. She went up to her, keeping some distance between them. She started to get closer, but then stopped herself.

"Hey..." Four said, "You can trust me." She held out a hand weakly.

Even with the distance, the prisoner flinched, pulled herself away. She was breathing short, ragged breaths, tilting her head down and holding her arms in an x in front of her.

Four wasn't moving. "Come on, it's fine."

The prisoner looked up, clenching her teeth. She made a noise, but it meant nothing.

Four exhaled sharply. The prisoner flinched. "Rose," Four said.

"Wha- Four!" Two snapped. "N-not here!" She shot a glance at the door leading underground. It was still closed.

"Rose," she said again. "That's my name. Yours?"

The cyan-haired Inkling dropped her arms to her sides. Her eyes relaxed, and she started making a curious expression. "Mo..." she trailed off.

"Morgan?" Rose guessed. "It's been a while. I wouldn't have recognized you if it wasn't for the eyes."

_Her eyes... _Two thought.

The prisoner's... no, Morgan's eyes... they were slanted, resembling Three's, and they were the same bright cyan as her hair.

And Four... no, Rose knew her.

Rose held her hand out a little further. "Come on," she said warmly. "I'm not here to hurt you. S...Sorry about this, but I... I might need to ask you a few things."

Interrogation! That's what Two was forgetting! Of course they needed to do that!

And she almost sent all of their chances at that away. She mentally kicked herself.

She silently hoped that at least this one would cooperate. And she recognized Rose, so that would help, at least a little bit.

Rose waved at Two, signaling that she was leaving. Two waved back, looking away in embarrassment.

_And she even said it better than I did..._

"Uh, Ma- Two? You okay?" One echoed from the nearby alley. "You look... something, I don't know?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she said. She pushed her sunglasses up and shrugged it off. "Let's get him somewhere safe."

* * *

The dimness of the inside of Cuttlefish Cabin enveloped everything. A single candle provided the only light in the room, casting eerie shadows on the walls and the shelves that lined them.

"How long?" Four asked. Knowing Morgan, she'd have to keep this as concise as possible. She needed time to talk.

"Long- Uh..." She flinched. "F- I'm sorry!"

Four kept silent.

Morgan took a deep breath. She clenched her eyes shut and faced away, covering her head. "A year..." she squeaked. "N-No! A year and a half... There was... a calendar. I-in the room. Cell, I mean." Her shoulders dropped. "A year, six months, seven days, three hours..." she droned. She relaxed her eyes turned back to Four, staring at the table with the candle separating them.

Four looked on in worry. Was this really the Morgan she knew? She never... never _changed _as quickly as she did then.

She debated whether to say something now or save it until she looked... better.

Morgan answered the question by talking again. "I didn't see them do anything... Just... the whole day, every day, we were all stuck there."

Four blinked. That wasn't what she wasn't expecting. She remembered the documents the team found and thought that they were for Hypno-Shades research.

She knew they had a model that worked on Octolings, that much was obvious. And there was that one pair that Callie had, so there was model that worked on Inklings.

So why did they have to keep researching?

"But I once saw something..." said Morgan, staring tiredly at the table. "It was at night... I heard something, it woke me up. Somebody... one of the cells was open. A guard carried him out, he was asleep, still.

"An hour later, they put him back. Closed the door. I don't know what they did with him."

_While they were asleep... _Four thought.

After Marie shot those glasses off, Callie seemed to forget everything that happened while she was hypnotized. Like it was all a dream.

_A dream..._

"W-what else?" Four gripped the table to keep herself still.

Morgan looked up. "Some days, I'd wake up... and I'd have a headache..."

"Th-that's enough," Four decided, a bit too late for her own liking. She didn't want her to keep going with this. "Come with me. I'll take you back."

* * *

Inkopolis continued with its daily routine as if nothing happened. That was the beauty of a city; it was impossible to move it.

And the square was no different. Even when one part was weak, the greater whole was unaffected.

"Remember me?" Rose said softly. "We knew each other in middle school, right?"

There was bench next to Deca Tower. That was where they were. It was the closest thing they could find.

"Yeah," Morgan whispered next to her. "Sorry... it's so weird being up here again."

A wave of relief washed over Rose. If that ended up not being the Morgan she thought it was, that would have been embarrassing.

"Sucks that you had to move, though." Morgan forced a smile, but didn't look at Rose.

"Didn't you say you had a brother?" Rose asked, changing the subject. She was very uncomfortable, and the sibling that Morgan said she always looked up to would do a lot better job at comforting her than Rose could.

"Yeah," she said again, even more quietly than before. "But... I don't think he remembers me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. I went back over the old version and oh my lord the characterization was terrible. See, it's chapters like this that really beg for a rewrite.
> 
> Anyway, here I am splitting a chapter for, like, the ninety second time. I really messed up the pacing a year and a half ago.
> 
> So, Three wakes up next week. See you then!


	19. Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about no chapter last week, but I have a long weekend, so I may have another one up soon.

He woke with a splitting headache.

_Behind... enemy... lines... _was his first thought. He clenched his eyes shut. Even thinking hurt.

Surroundings. Okay. That first.

He was lying down again, like he was in the cell. But it was somehow... different?

Scowling, he forced his eyes to open. He painstakingly pushed himself off of whatever he was on, wincing as he sat up.

The headache must have impaired his vision somehow, because the walls looked... pink.

_Behind... enemy..._

His hands were empty. He was unarmed.

Door. There was a door, not like the one in the cell. It was painted white, like a normal one.

In that time he was unconscious, they had to have moved him to a different place.

He took a step forward, and then his knees buckled. He hit his knees on the floor. Carpet, he realized. It was carpet.

"He's awake!" someone yelled from elsewhere. No... someone heard him falling. If a guard found him like this...

He put one foot on the floor and used it to push himself up. That put him closer to the door. He took one step, then another, nearly falling back down each time. He came to understand that not only did he have a headache, he was unexplainably exhausted.

The only thing he had was his hands. If, when a guard opened this door, he used his hands to knock them unconscious, that'd put him one step closer to freedom.

Footsteps echoed outside. Whoever was coming towards him was running.

Come to think of it, why did that voice sound so... familiar? And why did they use the Inkling language? Most Octolings were bilingual, but not many used Inkling in normal conversation.

He stood in front of the door, steeled himself, and took on a fighting pose. He'd have to get ready to dodge to the right, then lunge at them. That would give him the best chance at victory.

His head throbbed, and he winced again. The door flew open. Just as he planned, he dodged to the right. But then he stopped before lunging.

That wasn't a guard in the doorway, that was...

In an instant, his instincts fell away. His Agent persona faded, and all that was left was Simon.

He fell, losing consciousness before he hit the floor.

* * *

"Classic Three," Marie muttered. She took a sip from her dainty teacup. "Never holding back."

"I carried him back to the bed," Callie said harshly. She dropped on the chair across from Marie, crossing her arms.

The Squid Sisters' apartment was unexpectedly small for a couple of celebrities. The only rooms in there were two separate bedrooms and a few more combining the rest of the needed stuff. The walls were painted in a light blue, with the exception of Callie's room, which she personally recolored magenta.

"Four's still questioning that one prisoner," Marie remarked, in an attempt to strike up a conversation. She immediately realized that that wasn't a good conversation starter. "Still mad at the Octarians?"

"Yeah..." Callie admitted. "I'd go down there myself, but we... need someone to watch Simon."

"Watch. Riiight," she said with a sly grin.

"Shut it, Marie."

"Okay, okay, fine. But let's stop talking about what they did. What interests me is why they did it." Marie took another sip.

"What are you drinking?" Callie asked casually, as if she wasn't ready to snap the table in half a few seconds ago.

"Just milk tea. Anyway, why do you think they kidnapped an entirely neighborhood?"

Callie thought for a moment. She uncrossed her am she and set them on the table separating them. "Maybe it was to get a pair of Hypno-Shades working? Wait, no, they already had-"

"No, no, I think you're on the right track. We already know that the Hypno-Shades work on Octolings, but most of them are deactivated." She knew that because of a mission from a long time ago. The main use of the Hypno-Shades on an Octoling soldier was to get them out of a tight spot or "inspire" them to keep going if they weren't passionate enough. Other than that, they were just uniform.

"Where are you going with this?" Callie eyed her suspiciously. Marie always had something running in her mind. It scared her sometimes.

"A pair of Hypno-Shades designed for Octolings wouldn't work on an Inkling. We have very different brain structures. You had a different model, and they reused the same pair for Simon."

Callie didn't respond. Marie was on one of her stupidly accurate theory rants, and there was no stopping her now.

Marie put the cup back into the saucer. "So, the same works in reverse. A pair for an Inkling wouldn't work on an Octoling."

"Your point?"

"They're trying to find a small, cost-effective pair that works on both."

Callie has no clue what to say to that. It sounded convincing, but it was just a theory until... at least when Four got back with the prisoner.

"H-Hey, what happened?" said a voice from down the hall, breaking the conversation.

"And he's already up," muttered Marie. "How're you feeling?" she shouted down the hall.

Simon staggered out of Callie's room, clutching the doorframe. "Wh...what?" He looked tired. At best.

He was an average-looking Inkling boy of average height. Sixteen years old, two years in the NSS. His disguise, like Four's, was nothing. He didn't need one. Blue was his natural eye color, along with his hair, which was short, messy, and tousled.

By the time Marie could finish the rest of her tea, Callie was over there, fawning over him like a mother over her young. "How're you feeling? Better?" she asked, faster than she usually did.

"Y-yeah, but where am I?" He blinked, stretched his shoulders, and stood up straight. Almost like he wasn't holding on to the wall for support a second before.

The NSS members we're usually very good at adapting to a given situation. Other than Four, but she was new.

"Our new apartment," Marie explained. Simon started walking over to the table. "We moved here, like, five-ish months ago. You missed a lot."

"Like what?" Simon took the seat that Callie had before. She, expectedly, didn't protest. Marie shot her another sly grin. "NSS stuff?"

"All of it was NSS stuff. Hmm... where do I begin?"

"We got an Agent 4," Callie interjected, taking a different chair. "Or, no, _she_ got an Agent 4."

"Zapfish again?" Simon leaned back in his seat.

"Mmm-hmm," Marie nodded. "We're good there, now, Four got it back. What else... Oh. Yeah. Cal, you want to tell him, or should I?"

Callie flinched. "N-no, I'll..."

* * *

"B-but I'm fine now!" Callie sputtered. "You don't... need to worry... about me..." her head dropped into her arms.

_Should've made her leave the room... _Marie thought, grimacing. "Sorry," she said, to no one in particular.

"So that's what I missed..." Simon tilted his head downwards in shame. "I leave for a while, and... I couldn't..."

Callie lifted her head and stretched. "Y-yeah. What happened on your end?"

Simon shook off the remorse. He started to say something, then stopped himself.

_Wait... no, skip that part._

"Grizzco," he began, "Did the captain tell you about that?"

"Yeah."

"They used me as a mask. Made me go up there and make the company myself," he explained, crossing his legs. "All I had to do was be the representative and get thrown back in the cell when I was done. I founded Grizzco... to sum it up," he said angrily.

_He's leaving out the part where he only did it after they threatened to hurt me, _Callie thought.

"So where's this Four?" he asked after an uncomfortable moment of silence.

"The Outpost, probably," Callie suggested. She was relieved to be off of that topic. "Questioning one of the other prisoners."

"Other?" Simon stood up. "There were more?" he asked, wondrous more than angry.

"Well, there was me..." Callie said timidly, trying to hide her face. "You... you knew I was there..."

Simon shot a quick glance at her, then looked back at nothing. "Y-yeah, but how many?"

"I counted thirty-two," Marie broke in, tossing the teacup behind her. Somehow, it didn't shatter. "Thirty-one are gone. Four's questioning the last one. Apparently she knew her."

"Right..." Simon trailed off. He looked away.

"Hey, I have an idea!" Callie interjected again. She stood up and almost ran into him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her smiling. It was genuine... somehow. "Let's all head to the square!" she chuckled.

Simon consciously decided to not shoot her a weird look. It seemed like Callie just went from one personality to another.

He'd have to keep that in mind.

"S-sure," he sighed. "I've missed a lot, haven't I?"


	20. Another Reunion

"Isn't that just Inkopolis Tower 2.0?" Simon asked, hands in his green hoodie's pocket.

"That's exactly what it is, good for you," Marie said flatly. "Now, what other things can we find in the parallel universe that is Inkopolis Square?"

Hmm. Seemed like Marie was exactly the same as the last time he saw her. And, now that he thought about it, so was Callie. Weird. Did _anything _change while he was gone, or did it all just migrate to somewhere else in Inkopolis?

"Well," he sighed. "There's the shoe place, hats and glasses, everything else. Sheldon's still on Ammo Knights, I see. Uh. The single outdated arcade machine."

"Oh, that's not actually outdated," Callie chimed, showing off her new knowledge of the place. "It's just a style choice. But I don't know why they would use that big of a cabinet."

Yup, Callie was exactly the same as well. At least, when she wasn't thinking about those Hypno-Shades. Simon shuddered, thinking about it himself. That was something they had in common, but it wasn't a good thing.

"...Got it," he said. His eyes met an extremely obvious grate in the corner of the square. It might as well be labeled "Important!" with how much it stuck out. "So is the manhole the new entrance?"

"How'd you figure that's one out?" Marie said sarcastically. She lifted her arms to stretch, interlocking her fingers. "Miracle nobody's broken in yet. Has the captain told you Octo Valley was retaken?"

"Countless times. He kept blabbering on about a 'cozy wooden cabin' while I was out in the field monitoring them." He started farther, behind the manhole, curiously peering at the building with its door closed off. "Anyway, that's new. What's that?"

Callie looked with him, subconsciously mimicking him and squinting as well. "Grizzco," she said harshly. Simon took a step back. "But it looks like they're closed. Wanna see?"

* * *

A series of beats and record scratches played from the speakers hanging from Deca Tower. Colors flew across the screen in between them, and then they faded and slid away, revealing a pair of girls on opposite sides of another screen inside.

"Oh, hey, news... is up," Rose noticed, confused. She checked the time on her phone. "But it's not... eh, whatever. You good, Morgan?" She looked over her shoulder, careful not to make eye contact.

Which would've been difficult when she was staring at the pavement.

"Mm," Morgan hummed drearily. She was sitting, pressing her knees to her chest. She was wearing some of Rose's clothing, a spare set she happened to have kept in the cabin. They fit her, luckily. Rose looked at her worriedly. Morgan was never like this before.

The Morgan she knew was always the shy type, but she always opened up around her. She was pretty smart, she thought, but her personality held her back sometimes.

And now...

"Y'all know what time it is!" shouted a short, angry-looking Inkling with pink-tipped hair.

"That's Pearl..." Rose muttered to Morgan. "Tall one with the headphones is Marina."

Marina was always an enigma to Rose. As far as she knew, Marina was the only Octoling on the surface. She knew that something about the Inkantation inspired them to defect, but how come she was the only one to actually make it to the surface?

"Pearl, drop it," Marina demanded. She was grave, unlike her usual self. When she was live, she was never like that.

Rose shifted to get a better angle. Immediately, she saw several things that were off. First of all, Marina was not smiling and Pearl looked very confused. The turntable was gone, and the screen inside the screen was off.

Pearl almost stood up. "B-But... wait, did something happen? Nobody told me a thing..."

Without pausing to look at Pearl, Marina continued. "Thirty-one people reported to be missing have been found near Angler Avenue. The suspects appear to be a..." She clenched her teeth. "A group of strange-looking individuals wearing sunglasses."

Pearl looked on in... something resembling horror.

Marina grimaced, reading off of a paper in her hand. "According to reports, three vigilantes rescued the missing people..." She stopped for a moment to take a deep breath.

Script. They were on a script. Why? They were never-

"I'm getting my pay docked for this, but saying this for these people, I'm sor-"

The screen cut to black before she could finish.

_Of course, _Rose thought, _she's an Octoling, too._

It must be hard for her. Watching everything from afar when she just ran away. Rose wasn't like that. She didn't run away unless it was a strategic retreat.

The screen faded back into the automatic cycle of advertisements. It was as if nothing happened, according to the tower. Usually, the square was filled with the chatter of idle conversations, but then, it was silent, save the music blasting from the lobby.

"Did you get that?" Rose quietly asked Morgan. She shifted back, closer to her.

"No," she said through the fabric of her clothes. She was still pressing her knees on her chest, tired-looking and sad.

Suddenly, Rose thought it was better that she didn't hear any of that. She desperately tried to think of another conversation starter. She couldn't just leave Morgan like that.

"Sorry," she muttered. "For moving away." Rose looked away, about half a meter to her left to avoid eye contact.

"That was your parents," Morgan said, lifting her head. "I don't blame you for that."

"It was sixth year of school I left for Deep Jersey, I was old enough, I could have said something."

Morgan finally let go of her legs, exposing her face. "This is Sharktown we're talking about, did you really want to stay there until ninth year?"

"My parents didn't, apparently."

"You clearly don't know the financial situation of an average family in Sharktown. Come on, even I know that," Morgan said casually, brushing her hair back. "And I'm the orphan here..." she muttered.

On instinct, Rose made eye contact. Morgan flinched in place and clenched her eyes shut.

_Dang it..._

"Sorry..." Rose mumbled.

_Get off the orphan topic, get off the orphan topic..._

"Why do you think your brother forgot you?"

_NO NOT THAT_

Morgan paused. She looked down at the pavement, even though there was nothing there. "It's been a while."

That was a vague answer. Pressing for more details would be risky, but Rose already dove in and wouldn't back off now. "What's his name?" She was sure she'd heard it before, but it wasn't coming to mind.

Morgan sighed. She gently shut her eyes, appearing quietly reminiscent.

When she said the name, Rose looked up. Her jaw dropped lightly. Morgan saw her, saw that something clicked in her mind. She said the name again, whispered it to herself. Morgan went back to looking down.

She really should've felt better about being on the surface again. What's more, she was reunited with a childhood friend. But she didn't seem to feel anything. Like it was a dream, a lucid dream, and the littlest poke would make her wake up, back in the cell for another day.

Another part of her knew that it wasn't true, she was on the surface, Rose was right there, this was Inkopolis.

The next time Morgan looked up, Rose was whispering into a small, rectangular item in her hand. She could only make out a few words. "Two... Three." That was all.

Did this have something to do with whatever she was doing with those other two? It looked to her like Rose was leading a double life. Which was possible, considering the time they'd spent apart.

Morgan looked past Rose, at the wide span of Inkopolis Plaza. She gasped. How long had it been since she could see this far? See anything farther than the opposite wall of the hallway? How long had it been since she could see the sky?

Too long.

Three people, all dressed in hoodies, were standing next to Grizzco. One of them was holding a similar rectangular item. No, it wasn't just similar, it was exactly the same thing. An exact copy.

In unison, all three turned and started to approach. They were about fifteen meters away, then ten, then five, the range that-

Morgan grabbed hold of her legs again and pressed them to her chest.

_This again, _she thought, _again, no, not again..._

Rose stuffed the communicator back into her pocket. "Hey, you okay?" she asked, with a hint of worry.

The sound of her voice was soothing, but not soothing enough. Morgan turned to the side, ready for something to happen.

"Uh, hey, Rose," one of the three said. "Who's your friend?"

Morgan heard the voice, and knew it was that of a girl. She sounded young.

Out of the corner of he eye, Morgan saw Rose take one last glance at her, then turn in her seat, facing the new stranger. "Eh, someone I knew 'till I hit sixth year. My family lived in Sharktown until I was ten. Then we moved to Deep Jersey. Then I moved out and came here, eventually. Her name's-"

"Hold it," interrupted another one. That voice. Even more weirdly soothing than Rose's.

Morgan faced away, trying her hardest to stop herself from looking at any of them. Getting away didn't even come to mind, that was hopeless, it was always hopeless.

She felt a hand, light as a feather, placed on her shoulder. Then another hand on top of that one. She flinched, then shut her eyes, leaning her head towards the hands. Yes... that wasn't just a random gesture to her. That was a signal, more deeply ingrained in her mind than the horrors of direct eye contact.

She was always quite the introvert, and didn't have many friends other than Rose. What could she do now, now that she couldn't even look someone in the eye without breaking down?

No. That wasn't her concern anymore. She didn't have any concerns in that moment, she could deal with them later. Right now, she could just rest.

"Where have you been?" he said. Simon Parette. Her brother. "I sent you that letter a year ago."

It must've been embarrassing, Morgan thought, to have two Inklings she didn't know and her best friend watching while this was happening. And yet she answered anyway. "Underground..." she said, and she didn't have a problem with saying it. "With so many others."

Simon left the moment in silence. As silent as the middle of Inkopolis Square could be. Then he spoke up again. "Come with me. We'll get a place... somewhere."

And with that, he pulled Morgan out of the chair, and they walked away together, not even bothering to address the rest of the team.

* * *

Marie shut the door behind her. She blinked twice, still trying to process that encounter.

Their apartment suddenly felt a lot more empty now that Simon was gone. Gone for... wherever he was going.

Callie inhaled, paused for a moment, then yelled, "They're related!?" only to be hushed by Marie a moment later. In a single sentence, she summed up what Marie as thinking.

"Y-yes, it seems so," she said, pulling weakly on Callie's arm. "He never told us he had a sister."

"Yes, but," Callie took another's deep breath. "Octrope took her. And he didn't know he did."

"Your point?"

"He'll want to go after Octrope," she determined. She pulled something out of her pocket, something that resembled a flashlight. "This is... this is the Inkwhip, right? He had this in his hand after we knocked him out."

"And?" Marie asked darkly. Already, she was beginning to feel a hatred towards that thing.

"Think we could use this? Just change the color, and-"

Marie held her hands up. She just switched topics in a flash. "Okay, hold on. _Why's _he going to chase Akash, first of all?" She pulled the sunglasses off of her face and tossed them aside, not caring where they landed. They were pretty sturdy.

"They took his sister, didn't you hear him? He was pissed!" Callie snapped. "I don't know what you're doing, but whatever he does, I'm going with him."

"We're on the same team, here, of course I'm with you. And him. And Rose, too, probably."

Callie stopped in place. She gently turned around and pushed her hand against the wall.

_I didn't want to get this involved with Akash. I just wanted to rescue Simon, and then we'd all be back._

What was she doing, getting this stressed over him? It had to have been worse for Marie, who spent a whole eight months with Callie gone.

"I'm sorry," Callie whispered under her breath. "I'm... kinda worried about how this might turn out. Remember Octavio? He said Akash hated us. He'll cross lines Octavio never did."

"Mm..." Maire hummed in agreement. "I think... I think we both knew we'd go after him anyway."

A breeze wafted in through the open window, carrying the sound of a future yet to come.

* * *

"They're related..." Rose whispered to herself.

What was it with her apartment? Why did it feel so much more dark and intimidating?

No, it wasn't the apartment, it was the atmosphere. The atmosphere of her mind. Of course she'd feel off after finding out her old best friend was trapped underground for... what? Half a year? A whole one?

She never should've let her family take her out of Sharktown in year six. She'd keep being friends with Morgan, then they could move to Inkopolis together, and then Morgan would never have to be trapped-

_Stop. Stop fantasizing, _she told herself. _That's done._

What was more important was how she'd get back at them for doing that to Morgan. She had to hit them where it hurt. And right then, it was Grizzco. Somehow shutting that place down would cut off their power supply, then they could _really_ attack.

Wait... has the NSS ever been on the offensive? Everything Two told her they did was either in retaliation or in defense. Never did she hear about them initiating an attack.

But anyway. They were related. Agetn3 and Morgan. Morgan was usually quiet when it came to her only family.

"Simon," she whispered to herself. Agent 3, Simon, and Morgan's brother, all in one person. What a coincidence.

Okay. Now what? Do they go after Akash, or-

Her phone rang, breaking her train of thought. "Ugh," she muttered. Who'd be calling her now? One of the Squid Sisters? No, they literally lived right next to her.

Rose pulled the phone out of her pocket and threw it to her other hand.

"Mom..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, here's the fiftieth note about a possible lack of chapter next week and apology.


	21. Planning Ahead

Rose imagined a roulette wheel, automatically going off right when she saw the name she had saved on the phone. "Mom," it read.

What now? There were three possible reasons for this random call out of nowhere. One, she finally found the Squiffer in Rose's closet from years ago, two, she heard of something happening in Inkopolis, or three, she just looked at that one picture of three-year-old Rose again.

Rose guessed it was the second option. News about a bunch of captives being set free would spread like wildfire. But even more quickly than that.

She swiped the screen — she had an older model — and held the device to her ear. "Hey," she said. She went to the armchair and fell into it. "The captives, I assume?"

"How did- Yes, the captives." As expected, her mother was unreasonably distressed. She would be reasonably distressed if she knew Rose was in the NSS, but now, she had no clue. So it was unreasonable.

"Chill, I'm fine," Rose mumbled. "Y-yeah, nothing happened. To me."

_No, my voice..._

She could make whatever facial expression she wanted, since her mother couldn't see her. But her voice? That was harder to mask.

"I-I know," her mother stuttered. Yep, she heard it. "I just talked to you last week."

"Yeah..."

She paused for a moment, probably preparing to say something. "The reason I called was... something else. A group of vigilantes were... said to have rescued them."

Rose clenched her teeth. Two told them to keep quiet about it!

Though, it really was inevitable that at least one of the thirty-two wouldn't keep their mouth shut. Rose placed the communicator next to her leg, just to remind herself to contact the rest of the team about this later.

Her mother took a ragged breath. "One of them looks like you."

...Oh. She didn't think of that part. They had to have described her and the others to, like, a police artist or something. So, then...!

"Alright," Rose said, straining to keep her voice from revealing she was panicking. "Yeah, that was me. Don't freak out, okay? I... uh... have a story to tell. Get Dad, he needs to hear this, too."

* * *

"Here," Simon said solemnly. He made sure to swing the door open and keep Morgan behind him. He was doing his best to avoid anything similar to the... Lab, that's what they called it?

"Mm," Morgan hummed drearily. She stepped inside after him and clung to his arm, like a cat wanting affection. Except affection was the last thing on her mind.

"Pick a room," he offered. He took the moment to survey the place.

Their new apartment, he saw, was similar in structure to that Callie and Marie. To the left, a short hallway led to two separate rooms, and the right was everything else. It made sense, considering how his and Morgan's apartment was right on top of theirs. Same building and everything. It was the most convenient place.

The curtains were drawn, and the lights were off. Simon found the nearest light switch and flipped it. Half of the lights flickered on. The door swung shut behind them, and the vacuum from the outside was muffled, plunging the room into silence.

"I'll... take that one," Morgan droned, weakly pointing to another room. He hoped that was because of tiredness rather than... the alternative. He looked down, worried.

Another door shut, but this time, it was the room's. He looked back up, and Morgan was gone.

He was left, standing next to light switch, in some odd limbo. It felt strange. The surface. Months underground, and then suddenly thrown back up. Simon sighed, in something between solemnity and boredom.

Their apartment, the new one, came unfurnished. The only things there were the window and the carpet. That meant their rooms were empty, too. Morgan would have to deal with the floor for now.

The old place Simon had was in the other side of Inkopolis, in a now-abandoned building. It was on the street near the Lab, so he guessed everyone was just gone now. That didn't matter too much. All of them either moved away or were recently rescued.

He leaned against the wall, a blank expression on his face, and slid to the floor. He rated back up to turn the lights back off. A sliver of sunlight hit his face, just under his eyes, curving at his nose and passing to the wall behind him.

He blinked, twice, and the light was still there. It was it made some kind of twisted sense, he thought, that this light was here. He couldn't see any natural light from the sun underground. And now that he was above ground, he was intentionally depriving himself of it. He was still trapped underground. But this was a more... figurative way to interpret it. Ever since that incident six months ago, in that subway...

There was no light. Except for this sliver, this line. That was better than nothing.

He sat there, unmoving, for an amount of time. It was like the clock sped up, not that there was a clock anywhere nearby to begin with.

And then something made a soft _click _inside his pocket.

Was that the new communicator? Marie gave it to him earlier, right before he left their place. He stuffed it into his pocket without a second thought then, because the NSS was for later.

But, he supposed, now is later.

"Hey, is this thing working?" asked a high-toned voice. She had a little bit of an accent, with the way she spoke. He was unfamiliar with the voice, so he assumed it was the new girl. Agent 4.

Simon chose to leave the communicator in his pocket. He could hear it just fine.

"You're good, Four," said someone else. Marie. Or, rather, Agent 2. Two, most of the time.

"Yeah, so," Four continued, "we're like... on the news." She sounded timid as she said that, like she was afraid to say it.

Someone groaned. Callie, or Agent 1, or One. "Already? It's been, like, two hours tops."

"And how often do people hear about random strangers breaking in to... whatever that was, and coming out with thirty more?" Classic Two. She was always condescending. But just on the outside.

"...Alright," sighed Four. "Anyway, I have problem number two, if you want to hear it?" Again with the timidness.

"Not here," interrupted Two. She was acting very leader-like. Perhaps she developed that skill when the actual captain was gone. "Or, no. We're not the same place. Let's meet up somewhere. Here?"

"Fine..." said Four. "I just got comfortable, though..."

The communicator clicked again, enveloping the room in a silent blanket once more.

They weren't expecting Simon, were they? They just broke him out, and he didn't say a word during that conversation. But expectations weren't always reality, and he had a reason to be there.

One and Two were right below him, right? It wouldn't take long to get there. Maybe he'd make it before Four. Except, he didn't know where she lived, so...

He stood up, not making a sound. It looked like it got darker, with the sliver of sunlight ceasing to hit his face. He took seven steps to the door Morgan went into, and lightly tapped the door with his knuckles. "I'm heading out for a bit," he said lightly.

No response.

Sighing under his breath, he went back to the door leading outside.

* * *

Was that okay? Was she allowed to just... _tell_ someone about her secret life? Two someones, even? There had to be a special rule here, since her parents were... uh, her parents?

_Because of course that's what's worrying me, _Rose thought.

Telling the "I'm a vigilante!" story was the worrying part. Not the whole thing about the giant fish that her father told her about after. The one supposedly right next to the Salmonid territory, the Restricted Zone. At least her parents took it well.

The Squid Sisters' door was already propped open by the time she made it there. She took that as an invitation to walk in. "Made it. I guess," she said, pushing the door open with her shoulder.

"And problem number two is...?" Marie urged. She was already sitting, hands folded, at the same table as last time.

"Alright, how do I explain this," Rose said, hopping into another nearby chair. "So, like, near the Restricted Zone, there's like, this whole area the boat people agree to avoid." She paused.

"Go on..."

"And, like, recently, there's been a few sightings of a giant fish thingy? Alright, so... the whole thing is metal, like, creepily similar to the Eagle or whatever. But, y'know, it's a fish. Uh. Except it's the size of the Eagle. Maybe bigger."

"And you know this how?" Callie asked, twirling a flashlight in her hand. "It sounds like you heard this recently."

Rose slouched. "My dad's a sailor, duh. I told you this already."

"You can't expect me to remember that," Callie complained. "I'm not Sheldon..."

"Restricted Zone, right?" Marie said again. "That's the part of the ocean Grizzco operates on?"

Rose nodded lightly, confirming the question. "But the fish's right outside it, not in."

"Still, my point still stands," continued Marie. She stopped for a moment, hand on her cheek. "We raid again tomorrow," she decided. "We'll send someone else. A spy. It can't be one of us."

"Or Three," Callie mumbled. "They'd recognize him."

"Yeah," Marie said. She stretched her arms out, yawning silently.

A moment passed.

Rose slapped the table. "Sid," she offered. "Can't think of anyone else."

"Wha-" Marie started immediately. "But he's..."

"Who else are we gonna send, Sheldon?" Callie joked. She dropped the flashlight, letting it slide into her pocket, and crossed her arms. "NSS members are out for this mission."

"...Fine," Marie conceded. She noticed everyone was staring at her.

_So this is what I've done to myself, _she thought.

_I'm the de facto leader, now._

Continuing, she said, "...We'll have to find him, first. Knowing him, he's at the square buying some shoes or something."

"Alright, then." A grin spread across Rose's face. "Race you there!" she yelled, shooting out of her seat.

And then a knock was heard from the door.

They froze without a second thought. Rose looked behind her, only to see Marie with her hand on her Charger and Callie with her hand in her pocket... for some reason.

"No, guys, calm down, it's just me." Simon poked his head through the doorway. "You don't have to quiet down." He looked around, raising an eyebrow at the suddenly tense environment. "So, are you going, or no?"


	22. Temporary Member

"Ah, the shoe store," proclaimed Marie. "The only one remotely close to here. Fills that niche nicely." She shuffled through the door. "This place smells weird..."

Callie stood behind her and to the left, doing her best to look like a menacing bodyguard. Which was difficult when wearing shades in a dim environment.

Bisk, the yellow, six-legged shopkeeper, paid them no mind. He was frothing at the mouth, like he always did, and standing in the middle of the floor for some reason.

All of the shopkeepers did that. Even Sheldon. Was there a secret code shared between these guys?

"Found him," Callie whispered. "Behind that shelf." She passed Marie, and made a wide circle around Bisk, skirting the edges of the store. He creeped her out.

Marie followed quickly, and did not take the same path, instead choosing to just cut right through the floor. Bisk did not react.

Sid, she found, was boredly browsing the shoes that were definitely not his size. He shut his eyes for a moment, resting them. The lighting in this place made it hard to look at anything,

"Hey, Sid!" Callie called, completely negating her whisper from earlier. He flinched, and turned to look at her, dropping one pair of shoes to the floor.

She slid her sunglasses down and, in the process, cast a shadow over her face. "Hurry up, there's something you need to do."

"Guh-" Sid tripped over nothing and fell backwards, landing on his back. That face... it was the same one he saw last time. His own twisted into a scowl. "What is it?" he choked out.

"Grizzco," Marie said from behind her. "We need you to find something about Grizzco."

"Y-yeah, okay, okay," he stammered as he scrambled to stand back up.

"Whoa, that was easy." As Callie's face tilted back up, the shadow left. "You sure? We haven't told you everything yet." Suddenly, she had an apologetic tone. "Come on, we'll get you caught up."

* * *

Simon stood, against the white wall in the square's corner, basking in the sunlight. No, basking wasn't the right word. Lounging was.

He wasn't too familiar with Inkopolis Square yet. It was too rectangular, especially when compared to the round plaza from two years ago. And the weirdest part was that everything was on a road, with Deca Tower planted right in the middle of it. There weren't any cars there, there was some kind of roadwork happening to his right.

Which begged the question, what would happen when that roadwork was complete? Would people just drive into Deca Tower?

Hmm. Speaking of driving, did Callie get a license yet? Last time he saw her, she didn't.

Wait, where _was_ she?

She shouldn't be alone! Four just rescued her!

N-no, but Marie was with her, she's fine...

Simon shot his head up, and nope, he couldn't see either of them. Callie or Marie. They still used the Lie and Rie public codenames, right?

They must be looking for that one guy. Sid, they called him. Simon didn't really know him well enough to actually look for him. Was it really okay to send an outsider?

The only one he could see that he could... somewhat recognize was the new girl, Rose. All of her naturally pink hair was combed to one side, pairing well with her purple eyes. Something about her looked unnaturally young. Was it the height, the tired expression of someone in school, or the precise yet clumsy-looking movements?

And, oddly, she had a bag slung over her shoulder.

The reason he could see any of this so well was because she was standing right next to him. Not too uncomfortably close, though. Just close enough for an outsider to tell they were acquaintances, which they weren't.

"Did you lose them?" she asked, grinning. She turned her head to face him, and raised an eyebrow suggestively. "I don't think they can see us, either."

That was the face and tone of someone insinuating something. Either she was too readable, or she wasn't trying to mask her expression. "Are you insinuating something?" He said blankly, putting his thoughts into words.

Her smile dropped, and she looked away. "I-I don't really know what that means... but maybe? Uh, I mean." She slouched forward in exasperation. "I was gonna ask you to head to the tower with me. I wanted to see if you're as good as they say you are."

He couldn't help but smile after hearing that.

_That's_ what those two have been saying about him?

"I brought a Splattershot," Rose blurted, producing an oversized squirt gun from the bag. "They said you usually used these."

"They were right, in that aspect," Simon sighed. "Yeah, I'll go. Don't have much better to do."

* * *

There were many lobbies in the basement of Deca Tower. Rose just picked one with two empty slots and stood outside of it, waiting.

As soon as the elevator opened, she looked over. Simon stepped out. "New account, huh?" she said, playfully smirking.

"I lost my old card," he admitted. Understandable, considering his current situation. Slouching, he went to her.

Ironically, all of the matchmaking was done in the basement of Deca Tower, because everything else other than the ground floor was hollow.

Rose spun around and used her free hand to swipe her own card. The lobby's door opened, and she pushed her way in. Tossing one of her Dualies to her other hand, she spun them around on her fingers.

In stark contrast, Simon simply walked in, took three steps to the opposite wall, turned around, and stopped. "Are we ready?" he said, stretching his arms.

"Aw, two newbies?!" somebody complained. A tall, feisty Inkling wearing a hoodie was looking at the screen in the corner. It was displaying their levels, the method used to determine how long they've been playing this sport. He dropped his weapon. It clattered when it hit the floor.

Rose was, if nothing else, offended. She _was only_ level fifteen, according to the tower, but that was only because she spent more time in Octo Canyon.

And Simon was only level one, but that was only because he lost his card!

"Hold on, we're not-"

"Don't worry about it, Rose," Simon interjected. "Let's just show 'em."

Rose growled under her breath. "Fine..."

"You better not hold me back..." said the one in the hoodie.

The lock outside the door clicked again, prompting someone else to walk in.

On the floor, a grey, discolored circle opened up like a camera lens. Rose stormed to it first and dove in before anyone else even started.

She landed in a dimly lit tunnel, shaped like the inside of a cylinder. The walls were covered in a thin coat of neutral, transparent ink. Across the ceiling, a strip of purple passed through, leading to the destination.

_I'll have to change my color, _Rose thought. _Dang it..._

Her least favorite part of this process was always the color change. It didn't hurt or anything, it was just uncomfortably invasive for a liquid. Ugh.

She took to swimming down the curves and twists of the tunnel. She could hear the others swimming behind her, and hoped that the next one back was Simon and not that third guy. She was, by no means, a "newbie." Rose closed her eyes, letting the curvature of the tunnel dictate when she should turn.

Octarians always operated underground. Were these tunnels why they always popped up in battle stages rather than literally anywhere else? Huh, interesting thought. She might need to get that one to Marie sometime.

After a while, the tunnel began to rise, giving way to an upward slope. Rose stopped and looked in front of her. The tunnel seemed to stop right there, with a purple wall seeming to block her from moving any more. She took a breath, bracing herself, and plunged through the wall.

The liquid that, for some reason, didn't flow had the viscosity of honey and the coldness of ice. Rose shut her eyes as the fluid enveloped her body. The coolness felt like it was coming from inside her.

For a moment, she felt herself become one with the liquid, as it invaded the surface of her skin. And, as quickly as it entered, it left, painlessly pulling away that thin layer of skin.

She broke the surface, dripping purple on the respawn point. Whatever that was, it wasn't ink. She flicked her arms, still holding the Dualies, and several blobs of purple liquid flew from them and splattered on the platform.

She checked her hair, and sure enough, it was all purple. It didn't suit her well, even though it matched her eyes. She dismissed the thought. And then she looked at the stage.

The Reef, which was, in her opinion, the most uncreative stage name, was displaying itself before her. Shops made its border, and the bridge passed over its center.

This one didn't stand out much among stages. She preferred the more quirky ones, like Piranha Pit with the conveyor belts.

Simon hopped up behind her, taking another place on the pad. His hair was also changed, but his was from blue to purple. "Ah, good. I never saw this one two years ago. Always like a new one."

"Mm," Rose hummed.

"I've been meaning to ask, when did you join? NSS, I mean."

Rose checked around her. Nobody else was around.

Of course they weren't, Simon wouldn't have asked if they were. They were probably still in that color liquid. "Like, a week or two ago. Was the only criteria always just 'the ability to go down a manhole' or was that just Marie?"

"Hell if I know," Simon shrugged. "There're only four of us. Get ready, fifteen seconds left."

"Yeah." Rose faced forward just as someone else took another place on the pad. It didn't matter to her who it was anymore. The upcoming Turf War was first and foremost on her mind.

She closed her eyes, and waited for the clap that signaled the start.

* * *

Every ten minutes, the big screen decorating Deca Tower broadcasted a random match. This one happened to have both Simon and Rose in it.

"Good thing Sid was still on board," Marie sighed.

Callie, completely ignoring that, went back to watching the screen, "He's still got it!" she gushed. "I was worried he got stale underground!"

"Nah." Marie waved her hand, dismissing the notion. "Not him."

"Rose is doing well, too," Marie added, "never mind the fact that they ditched us."

Callie leaned back to get a better view. "Ooh, did you see that? They just shot a bomb out of the air!"

"Nice!" Marie laughed. "I made a good call with Rose. She works well with him..."

"One minute left..." Callie jumped up. "Let's go join 'em for the next one!"


	23. Info Boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *slides this one in confidently like I had it finished on time*
> 
> Apologies, fellas, this one took a while. Yeah, so as you know, I’m rewriting an old story to make it overall better.vChanged a lot here from the original, and all of it is to make everything in the future less jarring when I get to it.

Dodge-rolling was a technique Rose had quickly mastered. In part because of her natural talent, and also because of her quick grasp of the concept.

The bottom of the Dualies fired off highly pressurized ink when she hit a different trigger with her thumbs. Depending on how she tilted them, she could move in any direction that wasn't into the ground. Combine that with a well-timed leap to the side, and the flip practically performed itself. But doing it more than twice in a row with a normal type was illegal. Actually, it was impossible because of a built in control lock to prevent any overheating issues. But the mobility, she knew, was still reliable. At least for her, it was.

That mobility gave rise to several more options, and since Rose was a quick thinker, she fit the Dualies class very well.

Wahoo World was one of her more liked stages, if only for the spinning donut in the lower level and the retracting pathways. The battlefield evolved over time, thats why she liked it.

Rose tilted her Dualies forwards and flicked the secondary triggers. Leaning forward herself, she flipped directly into the raised ground in the center, ignoring the loud spray from the weapons' bottoms. She noticed Simon, who was flanking them and cutting them off from their base, and was impressed. She didn't notice him get that far back.

In one swift motion, Rose hit the Dualies together, simultaneously clicking two tertiary triggers on the sides, and jumped.

She flew into the air, the weapons spinning and ejecting purple from all sides, covering her in a thick coat of ink. Somebody from the other team tried, desperately, to fire at her, but each shot bounced off with a rough _clink_.

Suddenly, he was splatted, as his intangible clump of DNA flew back to the enemy respawn point. Marie waved at Rose from the distance, nearer to their base.

One disadvantage of the Splashdown, Rose noted, was that she was temporarily blinded by the ink over her eyes. Except that was easily bypassed when she paid attention to her surroundings before the attack and acted quickly after it. Both of which she did anyway.

She pointed one fist to the ground, and with the other hand, gripped both Dualies.

And then she fell. No, more like plummeted, like she was fired out of an airborne cannon pointing at the battlefiend.

The moment her fist touched the ground, the coat fell away and concentrated on that one spot in a loosely-held ball that contorted and stretched at the end of her hand. It spun around, and then it seemed to crack open under the pressure, first blooming like a flower, then erupting into a twister of swirling color. All of this, in a moment.

Amidst the noise, Rose faintly heard a whistle. The match was over.

As the farthest from their point, she had to super jump. She shifted, and then moment later, was twenty meters in the air. A quick glance at the now static battlefield told her all that she wanted to know. Rose couldn't help but grin internally.

She landed on the respawn pad, but since it was now open, she just kept sinking through. The viscous liquid that changed her color earlier was gone, since it didn't need to be there anymore.

Why was the color changing thing in the tunnel to Octo Canyon a lot less uncomfortable? It was usually set to lime green, but she always just swam though it like it was nothing.

Rose slid back through the tunnel, reflecting on the match. A dodge-roll usually took awhile to master, but it only took her a couple of tries before she figured it out.

Again, Rose closed her eyes and let the curving of the tunnels decide where she turned. There was only one pathway, anyway.

Dodge-rolls paired well with the Splashdown as a great approach and pressure tool. What she didn't entirely understand was the Splashdown itself. There was the ink coat, which protected her as the attack charged, she understood that.

But what caused everything else to happen? Th ball at formed under her fist, the one that cracked open and bloomed...

Was it... speed? If she just moved down faster, what would...

The tunnel started to curve upwards, and she followed it. As soon as she flopped out of the hole and stood back up, the camera lens spun closed again.

"That... worked," Simon remarked. He was looking at the screen in the corner, which showed the match results. They won by fifty percent. Way more than half of the battlefield was purple.

"I-it sure did." Callie tossed her now dry Roller into the couch, nearly hitting Marie in the process. She caught it before it hit her face. Rose went to her and fell face-first into the chair next to her.

Looking at Rose, Marie sighed in quiet triumph.

_This was a good sign, _she thought. _That team looked tough, too. _"Let's save our breath," she said lightly, dropping the Roller onto Rose. "If something happens at Grizzco tomorrow, we'll need to be ready."

* * *

Sid was, for all intents and purposes, a normal Inkling.

Years ago, at 13 years old, he managed to graduate school with an eleventh-year level of... pretty much everything, a year earlier than most. He got by working as a higher employee at the power plant, as well as doing the backstage work for the Squid Sisters occasionally. Now, though, after the Squid Sisters disappeared, it was just the power plant.

He enjoyed battling from the tower and was a slightly better than average player. But nobody could tell any of that by just looking at him. That, combined with his connection to Callie and Marie, made him the perfect candidate to walk into Grizzco.

What did they say, yesterday, when they asked him to do this? "Grizzco's evil" was the sum of it. Something about collecting those eggs for something energy-related. And so they asked him to simply walk inside, walk back out, and tell them what he saw.

He checked his pocket. Good. That device Marie gave him was there. He pulled it out, and there was a 2 dimly shining in the center of the screen, which meant he was in an... audio communication with the second member of the... team. Couldn't they just call it a phone call?

Grizzco's door — which was just some thick metal bars — slowly slid open. Nobody was doing that, as far as he could tell. It must've been automatic.

This would be the fourth time he was to enter than building. Each of the three other times was when he was just _that _bored. It was something to do, and in his defense, he had no idea the place was evil.

"Door open yet?" said a voice from his pocket. It sounded like Callie.

He shifted his weight to his other leg. It was uncomfortable, just having a voice in his pants. Four of them, actually. They all seemed to be gathered around the second one's device. "Yeah," he mumbled.

They also warned him to not use anything that sounded remotely like their names. As for why, he didn't know yet. All he knew was that they were somewhere, far off, outside of the city. Some canyon somewhere. That, and there was danger involved. Because whoever was at Grizzco was looking for them. And Callie and Marie didn't know what would happen to him if they found him out.

But it couldn't be that bad, right? It couldn't be worse than just... a regular Salmon Run? It wasn't like he had anything else to do.

Sometimes, he astonished himself with how small things like this were to him. He shoved his hands in his pockets, and approached the building.

As soon as his foot touched the floor inside, the wooden bear shook. "Right on time, kid," it said, the same way it did the last two times he went in. "I've got a job for ya."

One more thing that the Squid Sisters told him was that the voice of Mr. Grizz belonged to somebody named Octrope. But wasn't this a automatic audio system? How else...

"H-hey," Sid murmured. There was still a chance of someone watching, or maybe also listening, to him. So he had to act natural. "I-"

The bear emitted a static-noise. "Signal found," said a different, feminine voice. She had an accent. "You're with them, aren't you? Ugh. Jack, Rocky, head out."

Sid jumped back. The gate was closed, they must've closed it when he wasn't looking. He couldn't slip out, the bars were too thick, even for a squid. "W-wait, hold on, what'd I-"

"That thing, in your pocket," she interjected. Her tone was as if she was just dismissing his presence. "Don't fool with me."

The gate wouldn't budge, it was too tightly held. No way out, and only time to buy. They have to be after him now, so if he stalled for time...

He steeled himself and stepped back forward. If he played dumb, they might give him a few more precious seconds. "That's my phone, what do you mean? Who are you, what happened to Mr. Grizz?"

"Frankly, I find it hard to believe that those three... no, actually four now. I don't think they tapped a random citizen's phone." She sighed, and it audibly passed through the radio. "How would they know you have any Salmo Run history? And me? Eileen, but that doesn't really matter, does it? Even if you _do _get out, there's not much you can do with this info."

Things got really serious really quickly. So this was the danger they were talking about. This Eileen person... she just sent two people after him.

Rocky and Jack, she said. "Can't I just work the shift!?" He half yelled, half asked. "I need the money!" That was a lie, he had no financial concerns.

"Let me tell you a story," said Eileen, after a moment passed. "I have to stay here until those two reach you, and there's not much else I can do."

Was she taking him as a trivial matter? Not even a remote threat? This was too casual! People don't just... tell stories to people they're fighting!

"A girl was the eldest of four siblings." A faint creak sounded through the radio, as of that of an old office chair leaning back. "She had two brothers. And the youngest, a sister named Annie."

Sid's eyes darted across the damp room. Where would they come from? The entrance, the doorway to the boats?

"Sometimes, she felt tired, having to calm down three others, but they were very... close."

Or was there another entrance he didn't know about? With the amount of stuff cluttered in the room, there could easily be a secret entrance anywhere!

"The girl and her siblings lived underground. You don't know much about this, but all they wanted was to live above ground, like everyone else. But a group of bad people kept them from going up there."

Come, on, Callie, Marie, whoever the others were... The gate still wouldn't move, no matter how hard he pulled.

"And so their father trained them to fight, so they could one day defeat the bad group. One day, earlier this year, the youngest... went missing."

He breathed in, then out. Panicking would be deadly in this situation. That would just tell them he knew what they were after him for.

Eileen paused. She breathed into the microphone from wherever she was. "..Nobody has seen her since. Th-that's it. Huh, not much of a... story."

And in those last sentences, Sid saw his opportunity.

He sighed in pity, if only to keep up an act. "You've been waiting to tell someone that, right?"

Eileen kept in silence. Only the static rung through.

"That was you? You lost your sister?" Advice or comfort, which one should he pick? "I send my condolences, if that's the case. I remember when my grandmother-"

"She's not dead!" Eileen snapped. He could hear her slam her first on whatever table was nearby. "Don't tell me she isn't! She's just missing, and it's because of you! All of you!"

Sid's breathing quickened. He hit a sensitive spot, that wasn't good. He glanced at the door again, but there was nobody outside. Nobody even looking in Grizzco's direction. Callie, Marie, where were they?

He still didn't know what he was in... but he was determined to see it through. If this was to help protect Inkopolis, his family, his coworkers at the power plant, his friends from the tower, then he was ready to fight.

"They're there..." Eileen droned. And, from farther away, a quieter sound. "Rocky, Jack... you know what do do. Capture, don't harm."

The panel of screens at the back of the room slid into the floor. Behind it, two shadowy figures stood.


	24. Inside Grizzco, Part 1

Tentakeel Outpost appeared peaceful. The only noise was found in the nearly inaudible breeze, and the only movement, in the swaying of the only tree's branches. Not even the Eagle, which was standing right there, was making a sound.

Ironic contrast to the situation the NSS was in.

Raiding Grizzco directly wasn't part of their plan, but things had changed. A lot. The four were around Two's communicator, intently listening for the slightest clue as to where they were taking Sid.

Two subtly gestured to the manhole. She tapped the screen near the edge, which cancelled the communication with no audible signal. "We're good to talk now. Plan?"

"Why don't we get there first?" Three said, more aggressively than he intended. "Can't do much if we can't see anything."

"They have backup, definitely," One guessed. She stood up. "We can't go in guns blazing."

Kneeling on the ground, Four raised her hand lightly. "Agreed with Three. Speed is key here. I'm going!" With that, she turned away and dove in the manhole.

"No, Four!" Two called, chasing after her.

Three sighed, and lightly smiled. "First one back," he said to himself, as he walked away.

_I missed this._

A part of him felt relieved that he was back, but another one felt a little unconfident. Months without practice wouldn't do him well.

And a mission with One and Two! And a new member! Those didn't happen often, but they were always a bit more enjoyable than the solo missions with the captain talking his ear off.

"Uh, yeah, uh, Three?" said One, breaking his thoughts. She heaved into a kneeling position. "Are you sure?" she said, worried. "You just... got back, and..." she trailed off and left a short moment of silence in the air.

"I could say the same to you." Three turned to look offer his shoulder. "Are _you _going?"

One dropped her arm. "O-of course I am-"

"Then so will I."

She looked at him, with his eyes sparkling in the perfect angle, and then looked away in embarrassment. "Oh! I just remembered," she said, changing the subject, "take this. This is... the last weapon we have." From her pocket, she removed a cylindrical object in the shape of a flashlight. "Or, maybe you don't-"

"No, no, it's fine," he broke in. "Shoot," he mumbled, "forgot the weapons. We lost almost all of them, didn't we?"

"You didn't... we did," One replied. She threw the Inkwhip over to him. "Yeah... Sorry about that..."

"It's fine, I never used most of them, anyway," he assured her, as he caught the Inkwhip midair. "We didn't even have anything other than the Hero Shot until Sheldon showed up. Man, I missed a lot." He held the weapon upside-down and turned it on. A green stream of lightly-toned ink quickly shot outwards, extending until it touched the ground. "Oh. The color's been changed. Thanks!" Three lifted the Inkwhip and flipped it around in his hand, so it faced upwards again. The whip itself, the stream, flopped back down.

"You're welcome..." One whispered, now entranced by the intricate movements of the Inkwhip.

He swung it upwards, then brought the base to his hip, then to the other one, then he passed it to his other hand and around himself. The sweeping motion formed a circle around his body, like a floating belt, but it lasted only a moment before it dropped back to the ground.

"Whoa..." One scrambled to stand. "Where'd you learn..." she couldn't finish her sentence before losing her train of thought.

Three opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. "I... I don't know. Was it from when I was brainwashed? Can that happen?" While speaking, he tested the weapon's safety by holding it above his hand. The stream touched his fingers, but didn't go through.

_Sheldon's gonna love this, _he thought. _It's just like a light. But nothing like a light at the same time._

"'Ey, lovebirds!" Cuttlefish shouted from across the island. "Better get out there before your friend rats you out!"

"Guh-" One blushed under for mouth covering. "Gramps!"

"He's right," Three said, only slightly fazed by that comment. "C'mon." He went off the manhole, took one last look at the new base, and dove in.

One walked over, crossed her arms in defiance, and sank through.

Now alone in the Outpost — No, not quite alone, Octavio was there, too — Captain Cuttlefish hobbled to the seat on the side of Cuttlefish Cabin. He dropped onto the cushion, and chucked quietly to himself.

* * *

Two kicked the door. It wouldn't budge. "Four, help me pull this open," she said, holding the end of the door.

"Yeah, got it," she said. Taking hold of one of the many holes in the door, she pulled it to the side, and, with Two's help, opened the gate until it was halfway to the other side. She could've sworn they broke something in the mechanism.

Four reached a hand into the ink tank behind her, and tossed an Autobomb inside. It hit the floor, righted itself, and exploded in place, leaving a small puddle. There were no enemies nearby.

"Huh," Two noted, "I didn't have to tell you to do that. Well done."

Four cautiously stepped inside, whirled her head around to look at everything a time once. "Save the praise for later." She outstretched one of her arms, holding her left Dualie, and fired twice at an area below the screens to the right of the room.

There was a fan, a blue one, lightly spinning in front of the panel. When Four's shots hit her target, the fan bounced back, spinning. The whole panel, including the screens, descended into the floor.

_I raised that girl, _Two thought with pride.

Behind the panel, there was a small carved room that ended in a concrete wall, and a hatch on the floor that presumably led underground.

"Second one of these in Inkopolis," Four said bitterly. "How many do they have?" Scowling, she stomped across the room and kicked the hatch open.

There was light inside, unlike the Lab. Also unlike the Lab, this wasn't a kettle. It was a regular, circle-shaped hatch. Bars of metal protruded from one side of the circular opening, acting as a ladder. Four dropped another Autobomb inside, then jumped in herself right as it was obvious it wouldn't move. She landed on a floor not too far from the surface. Two dropped in behind her once Four stepped forward and out of the way

"We have a problem," Two observed.

"I can see that," Four said. There were two paths they could take: one to the left, and another to the right. Both looked the same, with smooth stone walls, floor, and ceiling, along with evenly spaced, flickering lights above.

"Left," Four suggested, "get the other two to go right."

Two reached for her communicator in her zipped pocket, then hesitated. "Splitting up? Well... I guess that's all we can do." She brought the communicator to her face. "Go the other way," she said into it, then she placed it back in the pocket.

"Ready?" Four asked. Without waiting for a response, she slid a Curling Bomb across the floor and swam through the stream it left. She could hear Two following behind her after a little bit of a delay.

She did the same thing she did in the deepest part of the Lab, where she chained Curling Bombs to keep a swift path. They swam like that for a while, hitting no doors on the sides or changes in the structure.

Eventually, the thin hallway hit a corner, going left again. Four kept going, but as soon as she hit the corner, she leapt out of the ink and pointed both Dualies to her left. Then she turned.

There were two — no, three — no, more — Octolings ahead of her. It was hard to see exactly how many with how thin the hallway was.

_Two's Charger would work here, _she thought.

Knowing Two would understand, she spread her hands apart and fired at the walls, making curved pathways for her on both the left and right sides.

She picked the left one to dive into first, then slowed down to ruin any shot leading. A splatter of Ink hit the wall in front of her, then she kicked off the wall and dove into the other one. In the air, she kept firing downwards at the enemies, if only to distract them in the split second it took for Two to fire.

_Six of them..._

At the end, she jumped out and tackled one into the floor. To her disadvantage, her feet got stuck in the purple ink. With her free hand, she pulled a Splat Bomb from her ink tank and used its size to block any extra shots.

Two's Charger fired.

Four shoved the bomb to the floor next to her, and a moment later, it exploded, clearing the back line and knocking her out of the purple floor.

And, just like before, it was quiet again. Two and Four dint feel a hint of exhaustion.

"Four, are you okay?" Two said, smirking. She knew her well enough to know that she was perfectly okay, but it felt like a necessity to mention that. "That gash on your arm looks like it hurts."

Four looked at her arm. "Oh, shoot, didn't notice that." She fired a few shots at the wound, and when the ink dropped off, the gash was gone. "Thanks."

"Not many people wouldn't notice that..." Two muttered, slouching. "No problem. Let's keep going."

"I think we made it, by the way," Four continued, pointing her thumb ahead. She moved her head aside to let Two see the stone staircase just a few more meters ahead.

* * *

"This... this is where I stole the Eagle," Two said. "Seadragon Wood... So Grizzco's connected to here..."

The staircase led to another hatch, but this one was more like a basement, with a trapdoor and a gradual descent. The metal trapdoor was hinged and attached to the ground, but it was now swung open and left like that for their inevitable return.

The worst part was that there was nobody there, as far as they could tell. The giant shed they used as a hangar for the Eagle didn't have any noises of hammering or whatever that Two heard last time, and everything else...

Everything else still looked as ancient as it was before. "Four, stay with me," she said. "I've been here before. Keep an eye open for Sid."

A quick peek into the hangar showed everything it had. Which was nothing, other than walls and a roof.

Several of the run-down buildings were nearly empty as well. They seemed to take everything and run once they heard they were raiding. They hoped that "everything" didn't include Sid. They had a debt to repay. No, this was more like a responsibility for putting him in danger.

While Two scanned the eighth and last dusty building for anything, she opened her communicator. "You two find him yet?"

"We got him," One said, sounding happy. "You can head back now. We made it to the outpost already.

Two breathed a sigh of relief. "Understood," two replied, shutting off the device. "Fou-"

"Found something," she called, peering under one of the many desks. "It's another one of these docs. Must've left it in the panic, huh?" She looked up, briefly, and winked fiercefully. Somehow.

While turning to face her, Two said, "I'll take it. We'll decode it later."

"No, that's the thing, there's not much to decode..."

"What?" Two rushed over to her and dragged the paper from under the desk. She looked at it for a while, and said, "It's not coded. 'Salmonid Research Center' ...is what it says." She sighed again. "I guess we'll keep this."

Something slammed outside. Four ducked, knowing she was next to a window. Two rushed to her, also keeping low. She peered over the windowsill, looking for any enemies.

And there were at least thirty surrounding the trapdoor, arranged in a circle. All of them were standing in a creepily ordered manner, with each one on the outside facing a different direction. They all had deadpan expressions, and all were looking straight ahead.

"How's it looking up there?" Four whispered to her.

_Like a colony of ants..._

Since the first mention of the Akash person, she kept seeing that they were like a colony of ants, like they all had the same mind.

"We'll look at this more later," Two decided, meaning the paper. She shoved it into her pocket, somehow making no crumpling noises, and dropped back down into a crouch, "We can't take that many of them," she said, meaning the Octolings. "They're spaced too far apart, bombs won't work."

"Did you find an exit?"

Two stopped, and looked down in frustration.

Four crawled away from the window, crossed the building, and lifted herself off of the ground next to another window. This one, on the other side, only opened up to a cluster of tree trunks. "Which way is the city?" she asked.

Two whirled around. She saw Four pointing to the forest, and made her decision right there. She clenched to teeth. Running through the forest was the exact theming she tried to avoid last time she was there. "Fine. It seems that's the only way out..."


	25. Inside Grizzco, Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what I actually have an excuse for this one being weeks late and that is because of semester exams.
> 
> ...Next one'll be up soon.

The right path of the hatch inside Grizzco was less uneventful than the left.

One and Three were huddled behind a wall, preparing to turn a corner just like the one on the other side. The hallway was the same as it was, bland and stony. They could hear the rhythmic steps of however many soldiers there were.

As far as they knew, there was no way around them, no alternate pathway for them to take. So they had to fight them head on. It was a good thing they were used to that sort of thing,

Three made a series of hand gestures, giving One his plan. She reluctantly agreed, since it was still a little disorienting to fight alongside him again. Even two years ago, he usually went solo on missions.

One pulled a bomb from the cap of her ink tank and gently handed it to Three's outstretched palm. With his other hand, he held up three fingers behind him. Then two fingers. Then one. When the last one curled back into his fist, he slammed the bomb onto the ground. It wouldn't explode any sooner, but his goal was the chaos that the sudden noises would make.

_First one back... _he thought to himself.

The bomb erupted into a splash of green ink, then Three rolled out to appear behind the splash before it fell away. He lashed the Inkwhip outwards, making use of its full length, and cut through the first two in an instant with only one slash.

Then he ducked and jumped backwards, avoiding enemy shots as he pressed his back to the wall. A few hit him, but he took them head on. Just as quickly, One leapt out from behind the wall and swung her Roller at the charging swarm, splatting more and grazing the rest with the

flick. She ended the rush with a quick Burst Bomb right to the front line, splatting another one.

Three pushed off the wall, jumped over One, and swung the Inkwhip again, catching, in succession, the rest of them with three blindingly fast flicks. Each of their intangible DNA clumps — ghost-like in appearance — floated through the ceiling, left to float until they found the nearest respawn point. Which would take at most thirty seconds, as the clumps tended to gravitate towards them.

When it was obvious that the thin battlefield was empty, Three flipped the Inkwhip's switch, calling back the ink, or light, or whatever it was. It didn't give off any light, even though it seemed to act like light, but with actual form and shape, and following gravity.

He kept it in his hand, just in case he needed it quickly again. "Hm," he hummed in approval, of both himself and One. "That was clean."

A wave of nostalgia, stemming from something she didn't know she had herself, hit One. It was that Three's personality completely changed on duty. He was less talkative, more serious — like he always had a "been there, done that," demeanor.

Again, she smiled under the mouth covering. She just couldn't bring herself to dislike it, even though Two wasn't too fond of the attitude.

"Come on," he said, looking over his shoulder. "There's something up ahead."

"Y-yeah..."

She was still trying to process that he was there. In one moment, stuck in prison underground, and the next... not in prison, but still underground.

_Ugh, I've thought that, like, fifty times already..._

A staircase going further down appeared in front of her. One almost fell down the abrupt drop, but then she stopped herself. Couldn't go embarrassing herself in front of Three, now.

Like the hallway, the stairwell was brightly lit. It was still thin, so One had to hold her Roller behind her. Three was fine, his weapon was just a dangerous rope.

"Is that all!?" somebody yelled, further down the staircase. He sounded angered, more than anything. Neither of them could see what exactly he was doing.

"That's him," Three said, as if it was the most normal thing he'd heard. And then he broke into a sprint.

One did her best to follow while keeping her own weapon from hitting the wall, but it left a few marks. Thin hallways were not ideal for wide weapons. She chased after him, going down four steps at a time.

Through the light, Three saw a door at the bottom. "Hah!" Three yelled, as he jumped for it and kicked it open. A stream of light burst out of the staircase. The room was much wider than the hallway, and it had another door on the other side.

Sid was... free. And holding a pocket knife on the left side of the room. There were severed ropes laying on the floor. The walls were still the same, and so were the ceiling and floor.

Four other figures stood in different places. Two of them, both male, had the barrels of their weapons pointing at Sid. On the other side, there was another girl, crossing her arms and leaning against a wall.

Most importantly, there was somebody in the corner in a purple cloak. In every way, he matched the description of Octrope that One gave him. He'd have all the important thinks they wanted to know.

Three took less than half a second to take in the scene, all while keeping a blank face. Octrope was interesting, he seemed very short for someone of his presumed age. Only two thirds of the girl's height.

But as things were, Sid was the priority. "Cover me!" he shouted behind himself, then he pivoted left to face the two in front of Sid. He dashed towards him and let the Inkwhip fly behind himself as he he prepared to flick the whole thing at them.

"Back off! We're the ones with the hostage!" yelled one of the kidnappers, in perfect Inkling language. "One hit and he's out!"

Three skidded to a stop, not more than a single meter from Sid. One stood farther away, on the other side, in a stance that prepped the Roller for a flick. Three blinked, but did nothing to express any emotion.

The Octoling was right. Sid wasn't wearing one of the Hero Suits. And against the informally dubbed "serious ink," one hit caused an instant splat. Who knew if there were any good respawn points around...

They were at a standstill. Or no, more of a checkmate; any move they could make here wouldn't end well.

Yet he still kept a blank face. His mind was running; Three was confident in his quick thinking and affinity for getting out of situations like this. There was always a way out.

The girl on the other side sighed, smiling. "There's a whole network of tunnels down here," she said. She chuckled quietly to herself. "Annie would've liked to explore them. That was... that was my sister's name. _Our _sister's name."

_Annie..._

There was no time to dwell on it. But she wasn't talking about the shopkeeper that used to be in the plaza, he was sure of that.

"I see you've stolen our weapons..." One uttered.

The girl shrugged. "Tch. And you've stolen ours." She paused. "No dignity."

So she accepted the change of subject. Three couldn't see her, but he was sure she was referring to the Inkwhip. "You gave this to me," Three reminded her.

_Why would One say that now?_

The enemy's weapons were an odd thing to mention. Was she trying to draw his attention somewhere?

He let his eyes wander to the kidnappers' hands. One of them was holding an Octo Shot. Almost all of them did, so that wasn't anything out of the ordinary. That one wasn't stolen. Of course, he noticed the other one, the Splatling the other one was holding. It was chrome with purple nozzles, the color of the ink loaded into it. He wasn't familiar with the model. It had to be a new addition to the Hero collection, based on what One said.

_The nozzles..._

Ah. There it was. The nozzles were not spinning, meaning it was not ready to fire. The most it could shoot instantly was a single shot. Easily blockable.

He made a mental note to thank One for the observation later. He didn't catch that one, and she was facing the other direction. So she had to have seen it in the split second they had when entering.

The girl scoffed. "Wha- Yeah, we gave that to you, but we never have you permission to take it above ground!"

"How about you..." One started. Her hand twitched, but it was definitely on purpose.

Both kidnappers pointed their weapons slightly to the left, at One. "Stop!" the same one shouted. "You're outnumbered!"

_There._

Three pushed off the ground and jumped in front of Sid. He flicked the Inkwhip with his left hand, only letting four shots leave the Octo Shot before its weilder was splatted, all of which sailed right over him and Sid.

He slid between the Splatling and Sid. The one bullet he predicted would leave the weapon went towards Sid's feet. Three held out a leg and took it himself, and his new Hero Suit saved him from the instant splat. Then he twisted the wrist holding the Inkwhip.

A moment later, the other kidnapper was gone. Three once again deactivated the Inkwhip. He dove for the Splatling and caught it by the handle before it could sink and dissociate to follow the Octoling to the respawn point.

"Ugh," said the girl leaning on the wall, more annoyed than intimidated. She faced the cloaked figure in the corner. "I told you I should've brought the Hero Shot." She uncrossed her arms, and in one of them, there was a small button.

"No!" One dropped the Roller and dove for the girl's hand. But she had already pressed it.

Both she and Octrope blew up in ink, and both of their DNA clumps floated away.

"Smart..." Three muttered after a moment had passed. And then, to One, "We're done here."

She said that there was a whole network of tunnels.

_A whole network of tunnels..._

He didn't know they were already this deep into infrastructure. They were there two years ago, when they raided parts of the battle stages, but a whole network wasn't necessary back then. The captain confirmed himself that it was only a few passages.

Now, though, it was different. Either the team was really lucky with the several new tunnels they'd been finding, or that girl was lying.

But he didn't have any reason to disbelieve her. All of the evidence pointed to that being true.

So what exactly were they planning to do with the new network?

One's face twisted into an expression of disgust upon seeing the controlled explosions. "And she said we're the ones without dignity." She stomped to the corner and pulled the cloak out of the floor. "I'm taking this," she decided, as she balled it up and shoved it in her pocket. Somehow, it all fit.

"We'll get you out of here," Three said to Sid. "Sorry for the setback."

Three looked up. On the ceiling, there was a target-shaped design, right in the center.

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---


	26. Purple Trench Coat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at this chapter. It's so short.
> 
> But wait! There's two this week! Rejoice!

"What now." Octavio said it like an order more than a question. The enraged face of his was becoming more of a blank face for him. He looked like that so often, it was hard to tell what he was thinking. "Tch. And the Eagle thing's still there."

One looked over. "Oh. Whoops, I hit the button. Anyway, we've decided to get rid of this!" She didn't have to point at anything, what she was referring to was obvious; she was dragging the pink folding screen to the cabin.

"Why," he demanded, just as gravely and even less questioning.

"What did it ever do in the first place?" As One pulled it farther ahead, she revealed someone else behind it. But she still kept going.

"Been a while, hasn't it?"

"Agent 3…" Octavio mumbled. "Finally got out, eh?" He raised his eyebrow menacingly, as if to tell him his escape meant nothing.

"What exactly was it you planned to do with me?" Three had his arms crossed. "You had me underground for a long time…"

Octavio growled at him. "...Keep you from the Zapfish."

"Then your plan worked? You stole the Great Zapfish, and I couldn't do anything about it? But then Four rescued it. You had us recruit another member."

Octavio kept silent at this.

Three shook his head. "The part with the brainwashing wasn't your doing, then?"

"...What did Octrope do?"

"Brainwash me and had me fight the other three," he said. "You didn't hear of this? I guess he really has taken over."

"You could've just asked if you wanted to know something about him," Octavio blurted.

That caught Three off guard, but the only thing he did was blink. That was the longest sentence he'd ever heard him say.

Octavio continued. "But I don't know anything that I didn't tell one of you. Ask them."

And then One dashed back out of the cabin. "Have you seen this thing before?" she said, more excitedly than she intended. She presented the purple cloak to him, which looked more like a trench coat.

Before then, the NSS hadn't seen a clear picture of the cloak, but now, they had it in their hands. The buttons had a weird design that made them look like stars.

"Yeah. I've seen it," said Octavio, "You're sayin' the purple guy's Octrope?"

_He really hates this guy, _Three noticed. _This is the most he's ever said with me around._

Octavio shut his eyes. "The Octarian grunts are just big tentacles. Cut one off, and it grows a tiny brain after a while. The Octoling grows the tentacle back."

"H-hold on," One began, "what does this-"

"Some of them grow into two tentacles. But cut off two, and get the same thing faster. And they still grow back."

Three stopped One from saying anything more. He held his arm out in front of her.

"That's what most people think," Octavio continued. "There's a whole bunch of stuff ya need to do for it to work. Two tentacles need more stuff. It's harder to pull off. But three, none grew into three."

"So you tried cutting off three at once with more… _complex_ process?" guessed Cuttlefish, who walked into view from behind the cabin.

Octavio glared at him before speaking again. "Yeah." He paused, stern. "The tentacles didn't grow back. The guy they tried it on wore that hood after. Never knew it was Octrope."

He stopped the story there, and left the outpost in silence.

"...Akash is missing three limbs?" One blurted. "The guy we're after is missing three limbs?"

A breeze wafted in.

"The Octarian grew the brain," Octavio sighed. "But they couldn't get it to follow orders, and it escaped."

"Thank you," said Three, before stepping on the muffle button with his foot. "Well, we found something on Octrope, at least. That girl next to him though, she might be an issue…"

"Um…" Sid walked out from behind the cabin, the same place the captain came from.

"The one who blew herself up?" He seemed more timid. Made sense. It wasn't a normal thing to be kidnapped, even if only for a few minutes.

"That one, yeah."

"Sh-she said her name was Eileen," he explained. "And something about a sister…"

"Based on what I heard," Three began, "Her sister's name was Annie. And she's either dead or just missing. Earlier this year, she disappeared earlier this year…" He went to the wall near Octavio's globe and sat on the part farthest away from him.

_It couldn't be her… Right…?_


	27. Seadragon’s Monster

”Four, follow my lead."

Two and Four were in the middle of a forest. Seadragon Wood, to be precise. Light was minimal, since the trees' desperate competition for sunlight covered any above spots through which light could flow through.

There was a boulder embedded into the ground. Only the faint outline could be seen in the near darkness. The two were faced with finding a way around it.

And whatever it was that was sitting on top of it.

Two went from standing in front of it to sidestepping in a wide circle around the stone. Four copied her, keeping only a few steps behind her former mentor.

As they walked, they kept their fronts to the stone. They could make out a faint outline of an Octarian on it. Its tentacles moved seemingly randomly, as they flopped to every side, or in circles, completely different from the controlled chaos of other Octarians. They could see one tentacle first. Then two. It was looking in the opposite direction.

_I've never seen one out here, _Two thought to herself. _Use caution…_

And then, as they reached the other side of the rock, the side towards the city, a third tentacle came into view.

Four flinched.

_Th-three?_

No, there were never three of them, it was always only one or two. Octobombers had five, but… no, they were a completely different class of Octarian!

This one was on land, not the air. It looked shriveled. From their new perspective, it was facing left, mindlessly snarling at a patch of darkness.

"Back up," whispered Two. "Keep your eyes on it."

At the sound of her voice, however quiet it was, the Octarian turned to look at them. Two and Four started their retreat. Five steps away, and the Octarian jumped off of the stone. Five more steps, and it gave chase.

"Turn around," Two said, foregoing the whisper, "Run." She fired one shot from her Charger, since she'd been holding the trigger down, but it didn't do anything other an annoy it.

Two scowled, slung her weapon on her back, and sprinted after Four.

Four leapt over a root and ducked under a branch. She took a glance behind her, and saw the Octarian's eyes for a fleeting second. The whole things were purple, unlike other Octarian eyes, and they radiated danger. She heard the Charger Shot, and if it was still standing, running away was their best bet.

Two was behind her by only a few meters. Thankfully, it seemed like whatever this monster was couldn't run any faster than they could.

A stream of light revealed itself as Four cleared a rock. The path ahead was clear for the most part, so she slid a Curling Bomb across it. The explosive glid across the pebbles in the dirt as Four swam through. It exploded, leaving a small puddle.

Four jumped out as she reached the end of the path and burst into the sunlight, tearing through a few low-hanging leaves at the forest's edge. She rolled to the side, leaving room for Two to dive out a moment later. Then she kept going. The city was a long distance away from the grassy field she just landed in, so she couldn't super jump-

"Four," Two called. "You can stop."

Four skidded to a halt, kicking up some dirt, and whirled around. She brushed her hair away from her eyes and let out a breath she was holding.

The Octarian was centimeters away from the edge of the forest, right where the shadow met the light. It wouldn't move from that spot, as if the light erected a wall visible to only it.

"It's shriveled," Two sighed, "there's no ink for us to counteract." She looked up at the sun. "But if it gets any more dehydrated, it dies." She turned away from it, not bothering to pay it any more attention. "Let's go."

* * *

Sid was gone. They left him to do whatever, as much as One wanted to make it up to him somehow.

At the moment, they were left sitting and waiting. Captain Cuttlefish was in his usual spot on the cabin's seat, One stood against the cabin wall with her arms crossed, and Three was firing at the training balloons with the Splatling and blankly staring at the ground.

And Octavio was just staring at Three from his spot in the globe.

"Hey, Cap?" Three said. "Have you been writing everything down like you usually do?"

He turned and scratched his beard. "Aye. Need the papers? They're in the cabin. Just… bring 'em back, eh?"

Three dropped the weapon on the ground, making sure to keep it away from the edges of the land. "Sure." And with that, he pushed the door open and shut it behind him. The door made an eerie creaking noise.

Effectively, One was alone. From where she was, nobody could see her.

Why did she feel like she'd seen that girl before? The one Octoling standing next to Akash, she wasn't wearing any Hypno-Shades.

Again, with the memories. Slowly, they just kept coming back. Even with only the feeling, Callie could figure out on her own that she had definitely seen her in the brainwashed period she had.

Now that she thought about it, Simon had a similar experience, being brainwashed and forced to fight. His wasn't as nearly as long, though, so he might not have seen anything important.

He was gone for a really long time. The last time she heard of him before she got brainwashed was when he went on a mission with the Captain. To somewhere, sometime. All of the details were kept secret, even to her and Marie.

So how much time, exactly, was he imprisoned underground? She wasn't sure when, in that period of time, he was captured. How long after that first mission it was.

Then there was a bubbling heard from the manhole. "We're back!" Four yelled, shooting out of the grate. She landed, caught her breath, and scanned the area, laying eyes on the Splatling. "Whoa, you got one! ...Where'd Sid go?"

"He left," One explained. She stepped out from her unintentional hiding spot as Two climbed out. "Three's in there," she said, pointing with her thumb to the cabin. "What'd you find?"

Two eyed Octavio suspiciously. "Almost nothing," she said with a hint of disappointment in herself. "Just this." She retrieved the Salmonid Research Center paper from her pocket and held it up for her and the captain to see. She angled it in a way that prevented Octavio from seeing the front.

"And that Octarian," Four added.

"...Yeah. Nice work getting the Splatling. That leaves five more."

Three pushed the cabin's door open again, this time from the inside, while carrying a wide folder under one of his arms. "Oh, that's what you found?" he said. "'Salmonid Research Center…' Let me take a look."

"Go ahead," Two said, folding it in half. "Take it behind the cabin."

"Hm?" Three hummed. "Oh, okay, sure." He caught it as Two tossed it to him and proceeded to the other side. Two sighed and walked over with him.

And Four kept standing in the same spot, not going to the back with them. What would she contribute there anyway?

She waved to Cuttlefish. "Captain, I'm heading out for a bit."

Before he could answer, she went right back out. Not even thirty seconds after showing up. "That girl…" he muttered.

* * *

Out of all the Dualies, there were only two types with the Splashdown that Rose was looking for: Clear Dapple and Dark Tetra. The Clear kit fit her objective better, so that was the pair she chose.

She took another look at the training room. A bit small for her liking, but it would work. Hallway with training balloons, and another section off to the left. It was a miracle that Ammo Knights wasn't constantly packed with people wanting to use this basement.

There was a Squid Beakon in the center of the hall that Rose placed there with a different weapon kit before switching to the Dapples.

If there was one thing she could say about what she was thinking of doing, it was that it was stupid. Not dangerous stupid, more like "there's no way this should work" stupid. But on the off chance something did happen, it would completely turn the tide of any battle.

Rose stood directly next to the Beakon, idly spinning the Dualies in her hands. She took a single breath, laid on the ground for a moment, and super jumped, homing in on the Beakon. She flew straight up. It wouldn't work otherwise

While midair, she changed out of Squid form and flipped her body so she faced down, as if she was diving into the floor. At the peak of her jump, she hit the Dualies together, starting the split second it took for the Splashdown to activate.

Both Dualies were in her other hand, and right before she fell with the coat of ink surrounding her, she hit the dodge-roll triggers on both of the Dualies with her thumb.

_If it's speed that breaks the ink ball…_


	28. To the Ocean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so I might have a very inconsistent update schedule starting soon, so yeah, sorry. Highschool is stressful.

“Hey, I’m back again!” Four yelled… again.

To her, it looked like they were just getting rid of the pink folding screen in front of Octavio’s globe. She hadn’t seen it since getting out of the forest. He glared at her darkly, like he always did. Delightful.

The rest of the team was behind the cabin, since she could see Two’s arm wrapped around the corner. And Three was sitting in a place she could see from the grate, but the actual paper was outside of Octavio’s line of sight.

“Where’d you go for the past five minutes?” Two said, more boredly than angrily. “We already have a plan.”

“No, sorry about that,” Four explained. “Just had Sheldon attach a Splashdown to these.” With her thumbs, she pointed at the Dualies holstered at her waist. “I haven’t seen many canned specials since the Octrope guy appeared.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Two sighed. “Just remember that if you ever find another can, you can’t use it anymore.”

“Not that it matters…” Four muttered. The Splashdown was the only special she wanted to use with the Dualies. “What was the plan?”

“Here, look,” Three broke in. “She got all of this translated… Anyway, this whole Salmonid Research Center is designed to be underwater. The way the building’s designed…”

“Okay…” Four mumbled. “Why’s that important?”

“Hold on. Look at this part here…” He placed his finger on a cylindrical portion to the right side. “This is labeled ‘Egg Storage.’”

“Oh, I get it!” Four exclaimed.

One joined in. “We’re planning to get one of our yachts and use it as bait for the fish bot people have been finding near the Restricted Zone. We’re in agreement, there? That fish is definitely a robot like _ that _.”

And then she pointed at the Eagle, which was pretty much right next to them. It was impressive that the outpost could hold its weight so easily. 

“I guess so,” Two remarked. “But we’re using it. The Eagle.”

“Wait, what?” One blurted. “You never said this earlier!”

“We’re attacking a tank, might as well use another one of them. And there’s nothing stopping us from using it, since it’s not underground.”

Four raised her arm. “But it’s underwater-”

“We’ll attack the fish with the Eagle. Take over the fish, and use that to reach the Research Center. If the Eagle’s any indication, it’ll be easy to pilot.”

“Uh… I got it…” Four trailed off. “When?”

Three leaned back. “Tomorrow,” he said. “You three have had enough recently.”

“I’ll fly the Eagle to the part of the forest near the ocean,” Two said, gesturing to the giant mass of metal behind her. “We’ll meet up by the coast. I’ll get the exact time to you tonight.” Then she stared, confused, at the three faces intently looking at her. “Dismissed, I guess?”

Four sighed, dropping onto the ground with them. Some time passed in silence. 

_ The NSS has never been on the offense like this before _,Three thought to himself.

“I’m leaving for now,” he decided. “We’re out of stuff to do.”

“We really are out of stuff to do,” Four echoed. “Three, wanna go shoot people?”

* * *

“I got the back,” Simon decided. “I’ll flank ‘em, and you pressure this side.”

“Mm,” Rose hummed in agreement. The speaker played some guitar riff, indicating the sixty seconds they had left to retake and hold the Splat Zone. 

Starfish Mainstage had a bunch of pop music-related gimmicks.

Simon swam to the right, careful to avoid the attention of the enemy team. He cleared the short jump and proceeded to the opposite wall.

From his place, the Charger would be the biggest problem. They were camping in the elevated platform near their base, even with the giant sign in the way, but that was still a suitable Charger perch.

Rose ran forward, on her legs rather than in the ink, and that elicited the Charger’s attention. Simon took the chance and jumped onto the wall.

Rose rolled left, waited, then rolled again, winking at the Charger.

She wasn’t just going all out with her rolls like most people did, Simon noticed. She was mixing up her movement to keep the Charger on edge.

And that gave him the chance to fire the crucial shots that splatted them.

Rose retook the zone, and sat on one of the nearby speakers. Once again, he and Rose were the MVPs of the match. Both of the others were at spawn.

Simon threw a bomb at the enemy spawn just for the heck of it. He already knew that they won, so he stretched on the platform and waited the ten-ish seconds it would take for their counter to hit zero.

Then the whistle blew.

* * *

Lobbies in the tower’s basement were expectedly decorated with chaos in mind; paint splashes were on the otherwise beige walls, and every seat was a different color, with some being more than one.

“Hey, Simon, how’d I do?” Rose chirped. “Was it NSS worthy?”

“Whoa,” Simon warned, shooting his gaze around the lobby. There was nobody around, thankfully. “Be careful with that.”

Rose leaned back in her chair. “Yeah, yeah, I looked already. Anyway, how was it?”

_ I’m only two years older than her? _ he thought, exasperated. _ She’s like a child… _

Though, he supposed, she did have some semblance of maturity under the childlike persona. Maybe she was a secret genius… he could never tell with these types. Which included Callie.

“You did great,” he said. Simon fell into the nearest seat and folded his hands. “You think quickly, and you don’t move without reason. You’re a good member of the team.”

At that, her eyes lit up. “Really?”

What have Callie and Marie been saying about him to get Rose to see him like this? “Yes, really. You have a kind of raw talent that few people have.”

She laughed out loud. “What was it like two years ago?” she asked as it died down. Rose put on an inquisitive expression. “I’ve only been on the team for a few weeks.”

“Oh, trust me,” Simon began, shaking his head. “Chasing Octrope is the most exciting thing we’ve ever done.”

Rose was staring at him, still with the same expression. He raised an eyebrow at her, but kept going.

“About you getting the Zapfish, I did that too, two years ago. But, based on Marie’s retelling, I think Octavio was easier for you… No offense, though. They only had two years to prepare for you, and who knows how many for me.”

“None taken,” Rose droned. She was holding her hands in front of her mouth, elbows on her knees.

“After the first Zapfish incident, I went on several patrols… then I got thrown in jail for a while…” He put his hand behind his neck.

_ And I can’t tell her about _that…

“Just out of curiosity,” Simon started, “what do you think of the Octolings?”

“Huh…” she stopped to think for a moment. “I don’t really blame them,” she decided. “They don’t have much down there…”

_ So we’re on the same page, then. _

“But we’re kinda reliant on the Zapfish, though. I could imagine more bad stuff would happen if we run out of power than if they keep doing what they’ve been doing.”

_ There _ was the maturity he felt in her. She didn’t _ fight _ without reason either. He nodded, just to tell her he agreed and was listening.

“Oh yeah, and they’ve recently been acting a little weird. How do I explain this… they’re less… fluid? I don’t know…”

_ Ah. Well. That wasn’t where I was expecting this to go, but she noticed, too… _

He’d only had one fight with regular soldiers, but he’d noticed the same thing. They were all moving as if they were under some kind of hive mind. Marie said the same thing. “Like a colony of ants…” she had said to him.

Well, that wasn’t anything they could pursue for the time.

“And Octrope’s end goal…” he said. “What do you think it is?” Simon already had an idea for that, but he wanted to see what Rose thought.

“Surface, obviously,” she said, yawning. “Why else would he need the giant robots? Or you in prison? Couldn’t he have just released you and been done with it?”

Simon blinked. “I get where you’re coming from, but why would he do that? I’m really dangerous, at least to them.”

“If he was just after power, he did that already. Nobody’s complaining about Grizzco. Except for us, but that’s only because they brought us to the middle of nowhere and attacked us,” she said, lightly laughing. “If he just released you, he could have sent the message that he wasn’t out to kill all of us. But he didn’t. So he knew we would fight him if we knew what he was doing.”

“You do have a point…” he admitted. “You-”

He was interrupted but the sound of a door opening behind him. An Inkling he didn’t recognize nervously peered inside. 

Simon turned back to Rose. “We’ll save this for later.”


	29. Change of Plans

It wasn't often that Octavio was left alone at the outpost.

Of course, he could not have known this; it was only earlier that day when they removed the folding screen from being in front of him at all times. Before then, he couldn't see—or hear—if he was alone. But it was still rare. Usually, Cuttlefish was there, absentmindedly twiddling his thumbs or doing some other pastime that did nothing other than entertain himself, as little effort as that required.

Octavio floated, even less mobile than the man with a cane who wasn't there. He was tenacious in insisting on grabbing the wasabi sticks, as if they were glued to his tentacles.

The scenery from his corner was nothing new. Rocks, a little bit of the valley, the sky.

Any Octoling would find the sky as beautiful as a lover's gaze. After all, being ensnared in a prison of stone and dirt, with the ceiling being a constant reminder of their state, elicited the desire to see beyond it.

And the sky was a concept that didn't even exist underground. There was at least an Octarian word for it, but it was only used in legends and stories told by the few lucky soldiers picked for aboveground missions.

It was an infinite expanse of air. No vents, no artificial scenery, just air. Sometimes, the air even moved on its own. They called that wind.

It was a distant portrait of unexplored places. While the underground was just more rock and dirt, the sky was a portal to the great unknown. Natural flowing water, rolling hills, everything someone could imagine.

It was the very definition of freedom.

And all of this, Octavio got to experience every time he opened his eyes.

It was hideous.

Sure, it was fine the first couple of times. Two years ago, he was pretty much in the same place. In a globe, doing nothing. But for a long time.

After the fifty-second time, it was starting to get old.

And what's more, what was a leader doing, biding his time on the surface while his followers all toiled without him? Who knew what Octrope was doing to them?

Octavio scowled at nothing in particular.

It was still hideous.

He caught a glimpse of motion coming from the manhole. He shot his glare to that exact location. Ugh, who was it this time? Cuttlefish? The annoying one? The other annoying one? The… other annoying one?

…They were all annoying, truth be told.

But it turned out that it was none of them. It was an Octoling.

She was in the complete soldier uniform, but Octavio could see at a glance that there were several things wrong. Even when tied in a ponytail, her hair fell to her shoulder, which was too long for efficient combat. There were no shades to protect her eyes from the sunlight and she had no weapon, not even a concealed one.

Without hesitating, this girl hopped to the railing next to him. He didn't bother getting his hopes up. After seeing her, he knew better.

The new girl flipped across the corner, then stepped off onto the ground next to him. She whipped her hair around and breathed in deeply. She took one glance at the tiny button at the base of the globe, and bent over to press it with her finger.

"What." Octavio said it more like a demand than a question.

"Greetings, former leader," she mocked, grinning with fake sincerity. "I take it you want out of there?"

Octavio gave her the stern glare he always used on the NSS, and said nothing.

"...Come on, say something!" the girl complained. She groaned. "I got it, then. I should have introduced myself earlier."

He was not amused. What was this act she was putting on? It was absolutely an act, he was used to seeing these.

"I am Eileen," she said, bowing and smiling to show her teeth. She lifted her head, and only her head, to look at him, and opened one eye in some semblance of a wink. "Eileen Octrope. And I have an offer for you."

* * *

There was a certain place in the square that only Sid knew of.

No, not really the square. It was below it, and more to an area farther away. It was just that the only entrance he really knew of was in Inkopolis Square, a tunnel leading downwards to the upper-right corner, close to add a Tower.

The place was an abandoned subway. Not any weird kind, like with talking phones and giant lasers. What kind of subway would have that kind of stuff anyway?

No, this one was completely normal, with light grey walls with a few red lines, a green ceiling, lockers on the sides and a train that fit perfectly in the tunnel, blocking any daring Inkling from braving all the nothing through there.

As everyone shifted to higher transport, like the skyrails, long tunnels like this ended up being phased out.

One would think the city would try to repurpose the absurd about of free space, but this one was abandoned. Maybe next year.

Sid went here when he needed time to think. Like now.

He exited the hallway that took him to the subway and pushed his back to the wall.

What. The. Hell.

Okay. No, he was definitely not ready for that. How hard could it be, he had told himself. Just walk in, and walk right back out.

Nope. No, that is absolutely not what happened. He was kidnapped. It was for a very brief moment. But a moment was still a moment.

What exactly did he get himself into? Would there be more things like this in the future? Would they ask him for another… "mission," or whatever it was called?

No no, they would definitely not force him to do anything. Just refuse politely, and he could be on his way.

Okay. Phew. Sid wiped a bead of sweat from his brow.

…

That's not the problem here!

Yeah, of course they wouldn't get him into anything. But the brutes that actually did the kidnapping, that was a whole different story.

They knew what his face looked like now. And, more damningly, that he was affiliated with the vigilante group.

He pushed himself against the corner of the subway, pursing his lips, then slid to the floor.

At least he was safe there. For now.

* * *

Simon gently placed the folder on the carpeted floor of his room.

The folder from the outpost, the one that was to fill him in on anything. Anything that he didn't see himself and that Callie and Marie didn't explain to him. He had read everything that he found was new.

One new thing he learned was that Marie really admired Agent 4. Or Rose, whatever it was. She gave detailed descriptions of pretty much everything she did to anything.

Or maybe Marie was getting used to the way the captain documented everything, and just went overboard. Either possibility was equally likely.

Another thing he learned was that this Rose character was insane. The good kind of insane. At least, according to Marie's long-winded reports. The concept of fear was unknown to this girl. She'd jump into anything, as long as she had some slight chance of success.

Simon was more of the analytical type, the kind to hide until he had several concrete plans that could easily flow into one another. It usually took him less than a few seconds to get them laid out.

And Rose would run in, shoot, and somehow win, sometimes in ways she didn't know she was capable of. She relied on spur-of-the-moment ideas, ones that sounded crazy in concept, and… were still crazy in execution.

She once jumped off of an Octoling's head to get a higher vantage point, for crying out loud. And it worked.

He had to give her respect for that. He knew she was a great fighter, based on the sole fact that she was in the NSS with everyone else, but this was something else.

He supposed he should prepare to head out. It was only a few hours until the team was slated to leave with the Eagle.

Simon lifted himself off of the floor. As of then, his bed—and also Morgan's in the next room over—was a blanket on the carpet and a small pillow. It didn't have anything to do with money, he was wealthy enough with all of the tower battling. No, it was more of the fact that it hadn't been very long since his return.

He wondered how Morgan was faring. She was way less suited to trauma than he was. It was even hard to call it trauma in his case, even though he'd been through more than she had. Not much fazed him.

The door opened with a quiet creak. To his left was the door to Morgan's room. He crossed the short distance and lifted his hand to tap his knuckles on the wood.

And then the noise rang out. Except it was from a different direction, and not from his hand.

Front door to the apartment, it seemed. Simon internally sighed and sped to the other door. He opened that one first.

"Hey," Rose mumbled, lightly waving. "Is Morgan here?"

Simon shut his mouth. Yes, she was, but it looked like she wasn't willing to leave her room, much less interact with anybody. "In there," he whispered, after a moment of hesitation. "Keep quiet."

Rose nodded and went inside, slowly letting her feet hit the floor. No sound rang out,

Simon gestured to Morgan's room. The door looked identical to the one right next to it.

Rose lightly tapped the door with her fingertip. No response. She took the risk and pushed the door open anyway.

Simon took a seat on the nearest chair as Rose disappeared into Morgan's room. What kind of a brother was he, when his sister's friend was better suited to talking to her than he was?

He waited. There was a sliver of light hitting his face from the gap between the curtains.

Out of nowhere, the communicator in his pocket gave off a quiet note. "Uh, hey… team." It was Two.

Simon — or, rather, Three — lifted the device to his mouth. He mumbled, "What is it?"

"Change of plans for today. Uh. They took over the outpost."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The abandoned subway is not Deepsea Metro. Thought I should confirm that in case I didn't explain it well enough.


	30. Reinfiltration

Four sprinted.

There was no good jump point to the forest. After hesitantly leaving Morgan, she had to pick the closest one to the city’s edge and then run the rest of the way.

Which was not easy in a forest that was dark even when it was midday.

Whatever that Octarian monster was didn’t seem to be nearby; Two parked the Eagle nearer to the ocean, and the Octarian seemed to live closer to the other side, near those cliffs.

Four burst through a tangle of low-hanging branches and dropped, panting, before Two.

“You’re late,” was all she said.

Four leaned on the nearest tree. “Sorry…” she said between breaths. “I-”

“Cut her some slack this time,” Three impeded. He lifted his hand a bit and stepped off of the Eagle’s foot.

“Wha-” Two started. She turned around with a look of disgust, but when she saw Three’s deadpan expression, she dropped it. “Fine…”

Four did her best to control her breathing. She didn’t want to stand out any more than she already did.

“They sealed the path from the square. We’ll have to fly there.” Two lifted her Charger and unloaded a shot at the tree Four was leaning on. She swam up it.

“We’re all good up here!” One called from above. She poked her head out from the Eagle’s open chest hatch. It acted as a small platform when it was opened.

Shutting his eyes, Three went to follow them. “Thanks,” he whispered, as he passed Four. He ascended the tree, just as Two did. 

Internally, he berated himself. There was a silver lining to the whole Morgan situation, but his own incompetence annoyed him.

If he couldn’t be the best sibling to Morgan, maybe Rose could.

* * *

All three of the present communicators emitted static for about two seconds straight.

One shot an annoyed glance towards the Eagle’s head. “I told her those don’t work here…”

The Eagle’s flight was unexpectedly smooth. If they ignored the horrible seating, that was.

When horizontal, the Eagle’s floor was essentially the inside of its chest. It was unpleasantly curved, and the next best option was one of the legs. And that was a little dangerous, considering how easily they’ve been shown to break off. They were pretty small, as well.

The brightness was almost nothing. The only light they had was a faint glow from the three Golden Egg containers in the front. It seemed that the Octolings found a better material for the wires, since they weren’t transparent anymore.

Meaning the static, Three spoke up. “We’re almost there,” he explained, resting in the corner by the eggs. 

Four, from the other corner, stood up and stretched. “Already?” she remarked. “It’s been, like, three minutes.”

“Yeah?” One replied, shrugging. “The outpost isn’t too far from the ocean.”

The communicators released static one more. 

Irritated, One slapped the microphone on hers. “That should send the message.” 

“Keep away from the hatch,” Three said. The Eagle lowered its speed.

As if in response to him, the circular hatch slowly swung open. A beam of actual light entered the Eagle, though it still wasn’t much brighter.

“Whoa,” Four breathed, in some childlike wonder at the Eagle. She was the first to crawl to the opening and look down. 

The outpost was definitely there, it was just really far down. Directly down. There was an entire platoon’s worth of Octolings standing idly down there, both in the section with the cabin, and past the narrow bridge and rock wall.

Odd… shouldn’t they have heard the Eagle? It wasn’t quiet by any means.

Either way, there was still the problem of clearing out the outpost.

Four’s mouth twisted into a sly grin as she realized that little… maneuver she tried the day before would clear the place out in seconds.

“I got this,” she boasted.

“Four?” One interjected, worried.

Unholstering both of the Dualies, Four hit both primary triggers and fired in a circle, inking a donut-like shape around the hatch. She jumped above the hole, winked at One and Three, then hit the Dualies together.

The thick ink veil formed around her, and she passed one weapon to the other hand.

She hung in the air for a moment, then she fell out of the Eagle. Even with the shield, she could feel the pressure rising and the wind flowing around her.

After making it halfway to the floating ground, she hit the dodge-roll triggers.

In a flash, she closed the rest of the distance. A few Octolings attempted to fire at her, but all of their shots missed. The ink veil around her, instead of gathering into a ball, quite literally exploded.

Four knelt on the ground as the veil left her body and as a twister of swirling color erupted around her. It roared, seemingly shaking the ground with its sheer force.

And then it subsided. Each strip of ink that formed the dome she had created around herself simultaneously fell, some to the outpost, and some to the endless abyss below.

The rumbling weakened until it disappeared, and the noise faded away into the crevices of Octo Valley. The Eagle’s constant blow of sound prevailed, even though it was far above.

Four got to her feet. Yep, as she expected, the entire surface of the outpost was coated green, save the little bridge that connected the two sections. That part had the whole arch protecting it.

The cabin and the globe were still in their positions. Four turned to the latter, which had ink dripping off of its surface. She couldn’t see anything beyond that, though.

The Eagle lowered — somehow, there wasn’t much of a visual change in the thrusters — and swung its body so the feet would land on the ground. It shut off, leaving Four and a very quiet outpost.

The first to jump out was Three. He landed on his knee, and when he looked up at her, his expression radiated “why.”

He wasn’t trying to mask anything at that moment.

“I call it Skydive!” Four chimed. She grinned and winked again. “Worked great, didn’t it?”

One fell near the cabin.

“Now they’re gonna use it…” Three complained, crossing his arms. “There’s a lot less of us, one of those would wipe us all out.”

“Not really,” Two said as she landed on Four’s other side. “It looked more like we dropped a bomb.” She chuckled lightly. “They’ll spend days trying to make it themselves.”

* * *

One approached the globe. The one thing that she was anxious to confirm after learning of the outpost’s capture was this. 

Ink was falling away from its surface — it didn’t stick to glass as well as… almost anything else. 

She looked at the gaps forming on it, searching for the dishearteningly familiar reddish hues of Octavio’s skin.

Nothing appeared. She flinched.

One took a single wide step to the barrier by it and knelt by it, laying her head on its surface. 

Dammit.

Somebody fell off the arch with the wet sound of boots on ink. There was a sound of footsteps coming towards her. She opened one eye to check who it was.

“We’ll find him again,” Three said to her left. 

One lifted the rest of her head. He smiled at her. 

* * *

“...I can’t see anything down there.” Four leaned in closer to the manhole. “Yeah, they  _did_ seal it off.” 

“It’ll be hard to clear it out,” Two remarked. “We might need a new base.”

“Aw,” Four complained, “I like this place, though! Nobody complains when I shoot things…”

“Tch, I can't do anything about that.” She turned her head to One and Three. “One of you get the rest of everything out of the cabin! We’ll keep watch out here.” Two exhaled gently. “Can’t wait until Akash is behind glass…” she muttered to herself.

Both of them, One and Three, chose to search the cabin together, apparently. He pulled her up and took her there. 

The door swung shut behind them, causing an audible slam.

“I only said one of them…”

Four looked innocently up at her mentor. “What’s it like piloting the Eagle? Is it anything like a boat?”

Before considering an answer, Two went to the soaked couch. “I have no idea how to captain a boat.”

Four slumped her shoulders. 

_Octavio’s gone, but that’s not our problem now... _

“I’ll give you a better question,” Two began. “What was that? Skydive, you called it?”

At that, Four perked up again. “So I just…” she hit the roll button on one Dualie. A burst of ink left the back. Her arm jerked forwards, but that was all. “Do that. But down, during a Splashdown, with both of them. It makes it a lot stronger,” she chuckled.

“I figured that much out…”

To Two’s surprise, Four didn’t follow up with another witty remark. She opened her eyes and turned to Four.

Squinting into the distance, Four stood on the guard rail. “Two? I see… uh… something, what is that?” Her arms tensed, and she stepped backwards, off the rail. “Get in the Eagle.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Setup chapter here. Yeesh, I need more free time. And motivation.
> 
> I told you guys about how this part’s my least favorite in the entire story, right?
> 
> Yeah, things should pick up later. I’ve already started revamping Chapter 41, and I’m having a way better time with it.


	31. Impromptu Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so this one is a month late. Um.
> 
> This chapter really refused to turn out right. Also, the lack of motivation for this specific part of this specific story is hitting me hard.
> 
> It's not like I have any lack of motivation in general, no. I pumped out a lot for the sequel to this story, a JoJo WIP, more of this story but further in, etc.
> 
> Anyway, coronavirus is giving me tons of time, so I hope to get the next one ASAP.

"Do we need this?" One asked, holding a book in front of her face. "Rapping 101, a Guide to Get the MC on the AC- Like, what does that even mean?"

"Beats me," Three shrugged, flipping through a folder, "is that Captain's?"

"I think so? I looked through it, there's nothing important written in here."

"Put it with the toothbrush and dead flowers."

One tossed it behind her, not bothering to look where it landed. Its spine made a light knock against the wood. She pulled something else off of the top shelf.

"Spare communicator. It's dead. Yeah, we're taking this one wi-"

The _boom_ of the Eagle's thrusters interrupted her mid-sentence.

"Shoot," Three said out loud. He exhaled softly, turned around, and burst out of the cabin door. "Report?"

He turned his head to the right, and saw the Eagle lifting itself off the ground. Four was nearby, still standing by the globe with an angered face to the horizon.

"What's the report?" he repeated.

Four almost missed the call, but the sound reached her. "DJ Oc's out there!" she yelled back. "Look!" Four thrust her finger to the west, where there was a speck of silvery grey in the sky approaching the canyon's edge.

The Eagle cawed, a screeching sound that tore through the air. It took off in the direction of the Octobot King.

Three looked over to it, then back at Four. She flinched, grimaced, then turned to run to him.

Instinctively, he grabbed the Inkwhip by his waist, but left it off. Four blew past him and dove into the cabin. A few tense seconds passed as Three thought of his next step, then he jumped inside after her.

Shutting the door behind them, he put the Inkwhip back on his waist. "That's the first model!" he shouted. The thrusters' noise penetrated the room, even though the wooden walls guarded them from everything else. "The one I took down two years ago."

Another _boom _pierced through the cabin, then all went silent as the Eagle soared away. Three lowered his voice to a whisper.

"The Octobot King."

* * *

All things considered, Two should have been at least angered.

Octavio being freed was most definitely bad. It meant that Octrope not only broke into the outpost, he also had the nerve to free his number one enemy. And then got him to fly to them in a revamped Octobot King to presumably attempt another attack.

It was that status of number one enemy that half convinced Two that Octavio's reappearance in the valley was an elaborate set-up.

There was no way Octavio was willing to fight them, at least in that very moment.

Right then, Two was looking for the other half.

The one thing Akash Octrope failed to consider was that the NSS knew Octavio much better than he would have thought.

Except, first, she had to confirm her suspicions.

The first Octobot King was undeniably larger than the second. It was rounder as well; minus the front, it was quite spherical. Octavio, in all of his purple glory, sat, glaring at nothing in particular, in a pool of ink situated inside of it. He looked to be larger in the mech-like aircraft. It must've been light play or some other illusion. Something the second one didn't bother to recreate.

Two sighed, lowering her expectations profusely. If a single Inkling could destroy the entire thing in ten minutes, the Eagle should be able to do it in even less.

But, to be fair, Three was far from a regular Inkling. And this time, she was convinced Octavio wouldn't even _want_ to fight her…

If it came to that, she only had three options. Bombs, which were nearly impossible to aim on an airborne target as quick as him, missiles, which were more viable…

…or just ramming the Eagle into him. No, that wasn't a good idea.

She still had yet to figure out how to use the Stingray on its foot. Her best guess was that one part of the motherboard that didn't do anything, but they might've just kept it broken when they fixed the leg.

Two slowed the Eagle until it came to a stop a good distance away from the outpost. She let it hover there for a moment, uninterrupted by the rapid approach of Octavio.

By the time he was close enough to throw a very telegraphed punch from one of the metal hands, Two had put her hand on the elevation controls.

Instead of charging right into her, he lowered the Octobot King, sailing right below her. Two turned around in her seat, struggling to keep an eye on it. Octavio whirled around as he slowed down.

Ink gushed from behind one of the fists. It shook, then popped off the holster like a cork in a bottle. Two's finger twitched. She clenched her teeth as the hand grew closer… and closer…

...and completely changed direction before it hit the Eagle. It sailed to her right, then gradually lost its altitude.

Just as she thought.

Two took the moment to spin the Eagle around and lower it to face him. The hand retreated back to its holster with the help of the spring attached to it.

"What are you doing?!" Octavio screamed. "Fight me!"

How did he expect her to respond, exactly? The Eagle didn't come equipped with a microphone, much unlike his flying machine.

"They'll blow up this hunk of scrap if you don't fight!" he bellowed, slamming a tentacle on a glass wall in front of him.

As if on cue, since it was absolutely on cue, every light with a source of power flashed red and abruptly ceased their oscillating. The Octobot King, if only for a short moment, became a warning signaling the coming explosion.

Octavio threw his wasabi stick away from him, only for it to bounce off the hardened glass. "Dammit!" he yelled.

There were two options here. One, leave Octavio to die. That bomb most certainly wasn't the ink type.

Two, get him out of that machine and possibly gain a powerful ally. Either that, or another enemy.

She hoped it would be the former.

Two turned the Eagle turned to the outpost, and, hoping Octavio would get the message, blasted towards it.

There were no Golden Eggs between her and Three; all of them were behind her, in the Eagle's fuselage.

Two risked taking a hand off the controls to retrieve her communicator.

She had a vague memory of Four telling her that the Inkwhip acted like light and passed through a transparent wall it they weren't there. Or maybe that was Sheldon.

Either way, it would prove to be invaluable here.

In one swift motion, she contacted Three.

"Get outside," she said. "I'll need your Inkwhip."

* * *

"And, One, check the nearest spawn point and make sure it's purple. Four, get all the stuff we're keeping ready. We're on a time limit. Go."

"Understood," Three shut off the communicator and nodded at the others. They nodded back, and in turn burst out of the cabin like a squad of soldiers.

_We're really doing this?_

Three went forwards, to the manhole, and Onep ivoted to cross the iron bridge.

His communicator sounded in his pocket. "They got a bomb on the Octobot," Two said. "Octavio's stuck inside."

_Ah, I see. And she wants me to get him out…_

He figured that out already, but actually hearing it was a different experience.

"Are you sure?" he shouted, over the increasing volume of the two mechs speeding to the outpost.

"Absolutely."

Three's hand went to his belt and came back with the Inkwhip. He flicked his thumb on the button, and the familiar green stream appeared and dropped to the ground with a quiet _fwoosh_.

Three breathed in, then out. There wasn't much of an indicator for when this bomb would go off. But for the time being, it seemed to be on a timer rather than an immediate remote detonation. That seemed to be exclusive to regular ink bombs.

A blur of motion caught his eye above the Octobot King. An Octoling's DNA clump was floating out of it.

There was the fuse. They got someone to hide inside of there and set off the bomb. All with time to escape.

Three dug his heels into the ground as the Eagle zoomed closer. A blast of air hit him as it soared by, but he held his ground.

The Octobot King slammed into the outpost, crashing into its side with a screech of metal against metal. The patch of land shook, with the cabin and the training dummies wobbling with the sudden movement.

There grit his teeth and leapt out of the way of a piece of shrapnel. "Try not to kill me, got it!?" he yelled over the dying noise. "Two, confirm it again."

"Free him," she said.

Bracing himself, Three jumped to the guardrail.

A curved sheet of glass completed the sphere of the Octobot. Not only did it imprison Octavio inside, it covered all of the good platforms.

Once more, Three jumped, this time aiming for the fist in its holster. He landed and crushed a lightbulb with his boot. At least it gave him a better foothold.

Taking the Inkwhip in his right hand, he brought it to his left shoulder.

Strangely enough, Octavio's gaze laid on the Eagle, which was placing itself upside down opposite to the cabin. Was he avoiding him?

He swung his arm outwards, as if it was part of a strange dance. He blinked, and Octavio was gone. Three threw himself off of the Octobot, pivoted, and rolled into the Eagle.

Octavio would respawn nearby, at the purple spawn point Two asked them to verify. He'd join them in the Eagle, and survive.

What worried Three was how the others were taking it. He knew Two was fine with saving him, since she was the one to order it, but the others?

One hid in the darkness of a back corner, and Four stood with both of her weapons ready near the egg baskets. Of the two, he chose to approach One.

_She _of all people wouldn't take this well.

He whispered to her gently, and waited for the explosion.


	32. Everything on Hold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I say I have free time, then I write more of that Jojo WIP and the sequel...

Blasting one more puff of air out of its jets, the Eagle shut off and blended into the Seadragon Wood as if it was an abandoned cottage left to rot in the tangle of leaves and branches.

Two exited first. She touched the ground and promptly took hold of her weapon, pressing the trigger and charging a shot. When it was charged, she whirled around.

The weirdest thing that Octavio has ever done, Two decided, was opt to ride on the Eagle’s leg. On the outside, not in. 

“Get off,” she ordered. “You’re the reason I couldn’t go any faster.” 

It was difficult to estimate a speed fast enough to be a danger to him if he tried to make an early exit by falling off, and slow enough as to not blow him away.

Octavio’s tentacles, wrapped around the leg, held him close to the Eagle, hanging sideways like an overgrown barnacle. He didn’t flinch, even with the Charger pointed at his face. He let go with six tentacles, pushed off with one, and then released the other. He thrusted himself off the leg and landed soundlessly on all eight of his tentacles, each one sinking slightly into the loose dirt.

Three and Four leapt out at the same time, both brandishing their weapons and landing back to back, Four scowling and Three, blank-faced, grasping the Inkwhip.

_ Callie… _

Two thought.

And lastly, One climbed out and dropped to the ground like a neglected doll.

“Three, Four,” Two began, “one of you get in front of him. One stays behind him.” 

_I have to lag behind a bit here._

There was nothing she had to say, regretfully, but being there was better than not being there.

“Understood,”said Three. Keeping the same stance with the Inkwhip, he made his way to Octavio’s front. Four was already behind him, staring incredulously at his deep purple back. Which was covered with scars.

Three moved to the nearest tree, and Octavio followed him without complaint. His way of walking was extremely unorthodox; instead of flopping on the ground, or just changing out of Octopus form, he just crawled on his tentacles like a highly mutated spider. Everywhere he stepped left a small basin-like indent in the soil.

“Ew,” Four muttered. She shuffled behind them, keeping her distance.

* * *

“Hmm.”

Cuttlefish paced around the room within his own house, not the least bit disturbed that his own Splatoon brought their former greatest enemy right to him. Without any restraints other than the threat of a few shots that he would survive anyway. Four and Two had their barrels just a few centimeters away from him, and Three’s thumb was placed on the Inkwhip’s switch.

“I don’t have a clue what to do with him.”

“You sure about that, Cap?” Four blurted without hesitation. “Can’t we just, like, keep him somewhere until this Akash stuff blows over?”

_ Four sounds different… _

Two made a mental note to herself to bring this up later.

Cuttlefish went to his recliner and sat down. “That’s what we should do. Keep him somewhere. But, we don’t have a spare globe with us. Or any kind of thick glass.”

A tense few seconds passed in silence as Four’s fingers twitched on the triggers and Octavio closed his eyes.

He was being too complacent.

It was Three that broke the silence. “I’m with Four on this one,” he decided. “There’s nothing else to do. We should find a temporary area until an alternative arises.”

Cuttlefish sighed and placed his hands on his lap. He opened his bug-like eyes, looking at nothing in particular. “Keep him in my cellar for now. The entrance is in the backyard.”

“Yes, sir…” Two mumbled. 

“Yo, Oc,” Four jeered. “Don’t think you’re home free.”

“Take him away,” said the captain, “I need some time to think.”

Two scowled. “You heard him. G…get outside. Four, you’re with me. We’re first up on guard duty… I guess.”

* * *

Octavio threw himself down the stairs, then Two closed and locked the cellar.

It was a very temporary solution to a much longer-lasting problem. Hopefully, they could find a more permanent solution soon.

“Oh my god Octavio’s out of the globe.” Four fell to the grassy yard, clutching her head in her arms. “What the hell’s the ‘alternative’ gonna be? There’s nothing in this whole city that he couldn’t weaponise!”

Two looked worriedly at Four as she continued her muttering. This, of all things, was what bothered her? After everything that had happened, it was this?

“Four,” Two began. 

She spun around, looking at her teacher.

“We’ll be fine.” She took a glance at the unmoving cellar door, and Four reflexively took hold of her weapons. 

“No, it’s not that,” Two continued. Shaking her head, she pulled her sunglasses off of her face. Her cross-shaped pupils, now free, shone in the faint light. “I need to take those off more often…”

Four flinched and scrambled to take a look at the nearest road.

“Four, don’t worry.” Two press her back against the wall, shaking her head to loosen her hair. “Nobody can see us. Can see me, I mean.”

_ At least that took Octavio off her mind… _

Four blinked dumbly.

“What I was trying to ask you was… why’d you stay?”

At first, she kept silent. Why’d she stay… where?

Two sighed. “I’m seven years older than you are. And we’ve lived through almost the same things.”

Oh. What kept her in the NSS.

“You were the youngest person to join,” Two laughed. “Even Three, he was seven months older than you when he signed up. Alright then, let’s start with this. “Why’d you join in the first place?”

“Psh, I dunno,” she said, without any thought. “Impulse decision.”

“You always act on impulse.”

“And it works, doesn’t it?”

Two started to say something, then stopped. “You have a point.” She shot another glance at the cellar, standing with her back to the wall, as Four joined her.

A breeze flew by, carrying nothing but silence. Their hair swayed in the light wind.

“I stayed because I like doing this,” Four admitted. “Where else can I do something this thrilling and… important, I guess? Somebody’s gotta do it, might as well be someone who likes it.” She winked, grinning at Two. 

Two suppressed a laugh, and just smiled weakly instead. “Sure.”

* * *

Left without a base, the NSS was left with a plethora of temporary replacements. The cellar acted as the globe, and the Captain’s living room housed all of the papers from the cabin they were to keep.

As for the actual base of operations, that was the entirety of his house.

With neither a mission nor an opportunity to find one, everyone kept themselves in or near the house. The second floor quickly became the tactics center, were plans were to come into play.

Except, without many plans to be made, it was just a waiting room for the time.

“Listen,” Simon said, slowly zipping down his uniform. “I can tell something’s wrong. Is it Octavio?”

Callie sighed. “So you knew, too.” She went to the wall and slid down until she was sitting on the floor. “You said they sent you to the surface for Grizzco, right?”

Simon grimaced. This wasn’t the direction he wanted the exchange to go in, but at the same time, he didn’t want to force himself into her own thoughts. “I did. My name is down as the founder of Grizzco.”

“What was it like?”

“Oh.” Simon kept going down this conversation path. “They hid a lot of cameras and microphones on me…”

Callie blinked. “And?”

“...and that’s pretty much it. I went aboveground, said a few lines, and left.”

“Ah.” Callie hugged her knees, planting her chin between them. 

_Interesting how dull he finds it. _

“You already know about how…” Simon grit his teeth. “How they said they would kill you, right?”

“I do.”

He leaned on the wall. “Yeah. Anyway, they couldn’t send an Octoling up there, and I was the best option. They captured me first, then you later.”

Callie looked up at him, but he didn’t notice a thing.

“I was supposed to be the first one to wear those Hypno-Shades, you know. Octavio picked you instead because it would’ve been a huge hit to Inkopolis if they knew you were under his control. Then Rose ruined the plan before he could even leave the hangar. Squid Sisters still on hiatus for now?”

“We are,” she admitted, sighing.

“Don’t feel bad about that. We have bigger things to worry about.”

“I guess so. But the NSS is on hold for now, and there isn’t much to do.”

“There isn’t,” he echoed. 

“...What about the shades? What was that like for you?” 

_This, huh? _

“I don’t really… remember that,” he said. “I fell asleep one night, and then…” he stopped for a moment, as if he was struggling to remember, “I saw you looking through some glass at me. And then woke up with a headache.”

Callie’s eyes shot open. He saw her then? When they raided the Lab, when he was hypnotized and piloting the mech… That brief moment, the shock that offset his pair.

“You saw me?” Callie breathed.

“I… I did.”

“You did…”

Simon swept his hair away, waiting a moment before speaking again. “Are you okay?”

“I am,” she said.

Then she rethought that statement.

“Or, no. I’m not,” she mumbled. “I don’t know what to feel anymore. Last week, my biggest concern was Octavio. I missed a whole chunk of my life because of him. When Akash showed up, I thought I could, like, forget about him. He’s a way bigger problem, but I knew I could look him in the eye without falling apart. But no.”

Simon winced.

Callie sighed again. “I should’ve known I couldn’t forget Octavio.”

“Look,” Simon said, “I’m not the most qualified person to say this. But I don’t… I don’t think forgetting about it is the best thing to do.”

“You don’t, huh…”

“No. You never know when something would pull it back. You don’t just forget something like this. I know I’ll never forget it.”

“Mm,” Callie hummed.

“I… I’m struggling as much as you right now,” Simon said through clenched teeth.

That caught her attention. It wasn’t like him to say something like that.

“I guess I’m just uncontrollably hiding it… We’ve both been through things normal people haven’t. But, hey. It’s nice knowing I’m not the only one out there.”

He _had _been through the same exact thing as Callie. 

“Now, come on. We’re first up on finding somewhere else to put Octavio.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me, still struggling with third person dialogue.


	33. Escape to Cityscape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter wasn’t actually in the original. It should have been, though, because this is crucial to the ending.

Octavio threw himself down the stairs and immediately got to looking.

He had no intention of waiting it out in this dank cellar. He had places to be, and none of them were this musty excuse of a room.

There were a multitude of things stored in the cellar. All of which were boxes, whether cardboard or just wooden crates. And although what the head of the NSS kept stashed under his house was intriguing, it was not very high on the priority list. And even if he was to find something, he would have no way to take it with him.

When it came to escape, the first thing that came to mind was one of the small windows.

They were grated — not that that would usually stop anyone, Inkling or Octoling, from passing through — but it was much too short for an Inkling to squeeze through.

Cephalopods had kept their uncanny ability to pass through anything larger than their beaks these thousands of years. 

But, unfortunately for the Inklings, the beaks of squids grew larger.

And the beaks of Octopi, an advantage to Octavio, grew smaller. Octavio was no exception.

After taking a moment to confirm there was nobody listening, he soundlessly leapt to the window and pushed himself through in a display that may have been comedic in any other context.

Like an overinflated balloon from a sewer, Octavio emerged, holding the window open with one tentacle and squirming out with the rest. He gently pushed the window closed again, quietly to dodge attention.

Now slipped outside, he had several options. All of them, though, began with blending in with the crowd. And for that, he had his other self.

He slowed his breathing and stretched. To remain as inconspicuous as a passing citizen, he would have to use only two limbs to walk, as opposed to publicly exhibiting the eight of an Octoling.

It had been a while since the last time he left his Octopus form.

He proceeded around the base of the captain’s house, folding his headwear until the only portion visible was the black outer side. He pulled it slightly down to cover his rounded ears with the shadow.

With his hair hidden and ears darkened, he had transformed himself into a regular surface Inkling. A little on the old side, but regular nonetheless.

Now, the underground base below the city may be a sublime place to begin...

Farther away, he spotted a green tower, capped with a blackish floor.

_That _was where he needed to go. There was a basin there, from when one of Octavio’s subordinates made an unbelievably petty move and stole a whole section of the concrete. Without consulting him beforehand.

It wasn’t the best move, but Octavio made use of it. The pavement, he repurposed into a hovering floor. And the basin, he used as a start to another underground base. Which just so happened to be his destination.

Octavio snuck away from the house, using its bulk to stay out of the NSS’s eye, then integrated himself onto an empty sidewalk, moving away from the suburbs and getting closer to the urban areas.

As he closed the distance between himself and the city’s former center, he came upon several structures. The closer he got to the center, the taller they were. Inklings curiously went upwards with their technology rather than down. 

And then he came within earshot of a voice with the indicative echo of amplification. “...and so, that’s where we are now with these unidentified vigilantes.”

“...Wack.” That was another voice, separate but also amplified.

Of the two, it was the first that piqued his attention the most. Specifically the light accent. It could have just been a coincidence… 

Keeping his original destination in mind, he remapped his course and followed the voice instead.

As usual, he was taking in every detail he could sense. The colors of the environment, the overall infrastructure, the city’s layout. 

But something else that he noticed was that he was seeing a lot of young people around. Had this been where the city’s center was relocated to?

As much as he disliked it, he shifted his gait to that of a frail, old man. Though he was only one of those things. 

Someone old enough to be a grandfather just walking around was a rare sight in Inkopolis, he presumed, but walking like one was better than speeding through.

He made his way to the outer edge of the sidewalk as he noticed a line of teens coming his way. The last thing he wanted to do in his situation was antagonize anyone.

He gave his regards to them with a smile and a nod as they passed each other.

In his peripheral vision, something caught his eye. A suction cup — no, several — were clearly visible on the hair of the teen in the center of the line. Everything else lost significance as Octavio analysed the hair. 

It was the hair of an Octoling. Or, that was what it looked like at a glance. As he paid more attention to her scalp, he saw a multitude of bands and the like, intricately woven to effectively flip her hair around, only to give the appearance of outward-facing suction cups. Her hair was appropriately dyed as well.

A fraction of a second passed. Octavio blinked, and it was over. The teens passed without conflict.

Now. Why was this hairstyle on the surface? He wasn’t much of an expert on pop culture, doubly so in a separate nation, but there was something deeply wrong about hair like this even being in the public eye.

A possibility floated to the surface of his mind. There was an Octoling on the surface, or more. The thought was grim. The chance of harmony between them and the population of Inklings was nigh on zero.

What a stupid mockery, that teen. What sane person would mimic a hairstyle to mock it?

Internally, Octavio extended his sympathies to the Octoling, wherever they were imprisoned. Nobody could come for them, at least right then, at the height of Inkopolis’s existance.

There was a corner ahead. Octavio turned, walking in an exaggerated curve befitting of an old man rather than pivoting.

And here, he saw both things he had noticed before.

The first, being the voices, came from large speakers mounted on a tower clothed with screens and colored with an ever-changing rainbow.

The second, being the fact that there was an Octoling somewhere on the surface, was a prodigal technician. 

Underground, she was heralded for her creations and her accomplishments.

And above ground, she was loved for her smile and personality.

Marina Ida looked down at the gathered crowd in Inkopolis Square, seemingly as a symbol of charisma and hope.

“That’s all we got today,” she laughed, speaking perfectly in the Inkling language. “We’ll be sure to broadcast anything else that pops up. Until next time…”

“Don’t get cooked,”

“Stay off the hook!”

Octavio turned back the way he came. He had passed his original destination in his curiosity.

* * *

The door of Ammo Knights swung shut behind them as Sheldon waved in apology. Callie audibly groaned, almost directly into Simon’s ear. 

“Hey, stop that,” he complained, closing off his ear with the tip of a finger. “You know my hearing’s sensitive.”

“I _do _know,” she slurred, “but there’s nowhere to put him!” She looked up at him, expecting his genius to come into play again. “We don’t have a spare globe anywhere.”

Simon’s mouth was curled up on one end. He let his ear spring back and stretched in the sunlight. “Glad to see you’re feeling a little better.” Keeping up the grin, he glanced back at the main screen on Deca Tower. Something news related was happening, but Pearl and Marina weren’t his main focus right then.

“Ah.” Callie looked away from him. “Hey. I…”

He turned back to her. “...What?”

She flicked her hair aside. “It’s nothing. You’re just a good person, that’s all.”

“You give me too much credit,” he admitted. They stood awkwardly by the door, unsure of what to do next.

“That’s where we are with these unidentified vigilantes.”

“Hm?” hummed Simon. Callie took notice, and mimicked his decision to give his attention to the newscast.

“...Wack.” Pearl, as always, was sidelined, as she was when the serious topics came about.

“They haven’t done anything_ wrong_,”

Marina continued, “Though we don’t know where they stand, if that makes sense. Does it?” An innocent look on her face, she looked at Pearl.

“Seems like we’re building up a bit of a name,” Simon whispered. Callie nodded. “Welp, no use hanging around here,” he continued, “let’s keep looking, huh?”

Callie, caught off guard, blinked and smiled. “Mm,” she agreed. “L-”

A faint click from Simon’s pocket cut her off. “Uh. Sooo,” began Rose’s voice. “Things happened.”

“...Four?” Simon asked.

“Good news,” Rose said, apprehensively.

Marie finished her sentence, taking as if it was actually good news she was giving. “You don’t have to look anymore!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note that the “Octarian beak being smaller than Inkling beak” thing is completely not canon and something I made up on the spot.


	34. Take the Rest of Today Off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Exams were somehow more stressful this year than last.

“You don't have to look anymore!” Marie exclaimed, with a bright tone yet a tired face.

“...What?” said Callie, distantly.

“Is Octavio gone already?” Simon asked.

“I… I don’t know,” Marie sighed, shrugging with the communicator in her hand. “I don’t know.” She set the device down on the coffee table by Rose and sank into her chair. “You still there?”

“We are,” Simon said with a tinge of worry. “What shall we do now?”

“Eh…”

Rose looked away from Marie. “Octavio won’t show himself for a while,” Rose said. “On the bright side, we won’t have to… what’s the word… reduce our numbers for the attack on the robot fish. I’d bet he won’t be a threat anymore, or at least until this Akash stuff is over.”

She shot another glance at Marie, who was rubbing her eyes with one hand and letting the other dangle off the armrest.

“Hmm. I’m not sure I’m in a position to say this,” Rose began, “but take the rest of today off.”

Marie didn’t object.

Rose, after waiting a moment, reached over and shut off the communicator. She put her hands on her hips and gave Marie an accusing look. “You need some rest,” she told her. “Preferably more than some, actually.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know.”

“I’m serious. We can’t have our sniper  _and_ co-captain this exhausted. What do you even do that’s this stressful?”

Marie looked away.

“You  _do _ make all of the big decisions.” Rose put her hand on her chin and began pacing around the room. “You’re smart, and all that piled on top of fighting… It’s gotta be hard to find the best thing to do when this many… things are involved. Compared to you, I’m just a foot soldier. Just following orders.”

Rose knew full well that she was carrying this very one-sided conversation. But at the moment, it seemed like she had to.

“And we also just lost our base. This house isn’t the best backup.” Rose lowered herself onto the chair next to hers, sinking as she did into its mass. She looked at Marie accusingly. “It’s Callie, isn’t it?” 

Marie sighed again, weakly grinning at the ceiling. “...You really know me well, don’t you?”

“It was your voice talking me through thirty-something Octarian bases. It’d be bad if I didn’t by now.”

“I’m worried about her.”

“Aren’t we all,” Rose said flatly, crossing her legs. “She knows she’s not at her best, but she still keeps going on the missions with us.”

“I wonder, sometimes,” Marie began. “Why did the Octarians get her first? I avoided them since she went missing. I went into hiding, looking for a new member. But what if they got me? I would’ve gone in her place in a heartbeat. She’s just not meant for something like this.”

“You’re not, either.”

“...I guess. Nobody really is.”

“I think she’ll be fine with Simon. They both went through pretty much the same thing.”

Marie shrugged. “But he wasn’t…they didn’t have him wearing the shades for months, or at least that's what he's telling us. I wouldn’t call it the exact same thing, but they both went through a lot.” She grimaced. “Either way, he’s taking it better than she is… Ah, who am I kidding. He’s pushing himself again.”

“Does he usually?” Rose muttered.

“You have no idea.”

“Ahaha…”

Marie shut her eyes. It was times like these when she realized how quiet it was without Gramps around.

“Hey,” Rose began again, “if somebody’s getting hypnotized next, maybe it should be the both of us. Then nobody would have to try too hard to keep up.”

Marie was less horrified at the notion than she thought she would be. But still.

“Would anyone really want that?”

* * *

Simon slipped his hand in his pocket, dropped off the communicator, and zipped it closed. “I can’t say I didn’t expect this. He has an affinity for escaping.”

“Yeah…” She echoed the question on everyone’s mind. “What now?”

“We have the day off.” On instinct, Simon glanced at the tower, but ultimately decided against going inside. “Not that,” he said to himself. “Let’s get away from here first. Know anywhere quiet?”

Callie stopped to think. “Maybe… Follow me.”

* * *

“So they finally finished Hammerhead, huh...”

Formerly one of the more unconventional stages Simon used to play on, Hammerhead Bridge used to be joked about extensively. It was under construction for literal years, and the sudden decision to make it a stage didn’t speed things up.

It bridged the gap between two sides of a channel running through a portion of Inkopolis, far from the forest.

Along one end of the channel, the one closer to the center, there stood a line of ships and other sea vehicles. Grizzco’s garage-like structure was closer to the coast, so it wasn’t in sight.

The outer side, facing away from the city, was much less bustling. Contrary to the near-constant traffic and busy nature of the rest of the city, this side only saw the occasional passerby. Sure, there were the usual shops and businesses, but most were farther from the channel.

“There’s a hill by the dropoff,” Callie said, pointing Simon closer to the ocean. “See that bench? Around there.”

A lone bench stood in a patch of grass, accompanied only by a young tree, sturdy enough to hold its place in strong winds but not large enough to warrant a relocation.

It all held a place on a slight incline. A concrete barrier held the soil inside and the seawater out. It was a short drop from the barrier to the ocean.

Simon stepped into the patch of grass. Completely ignoring the bench, fell onto the hill and turned on his side. Breathing out, he shut his eyes, taking in the warmth. It had been a while since the last time he found himself in a quiet place. The past few days had been hectic. Not just for him, but for the NSS. 

“Simon?”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine here.”

There weren’t many people Simon trusted enough to leave himself open in front of, which he guessed was a byproduct of his NSS status. But Callie was one of them. Which he also guessed was because of the NSS.

He also trusted her enough to stop him if an outsider came within earshot while his eyes were closed.

“I told you about the Grizzco situation? That they made me the rep?” Oddly, he felt more comfortable admitting it all, even to her, in this peaceful recluse.

“Mm.”

“I don’t regret it.”

A pause. “What…?”

He thought back to her exact words, the Octoling girl that once paid him a visit in his cell. “It’s Grizzco or she dies,” she had said to him. 

There was a change she was bluffing, but he wasn’t willing to take it. Callie was too important. To Inkopolis, that is.

“They’d kill you if I didn’t,” he said. “It wouldn’t have been pretty.”

Callie kept her mouth shut. Simon took a mental note that she was being much quieter than before.

This was a touchy subject. He picked the smoothest way to steer away from it. “Hey, so far nobody has died. On our side or theirs. I’d like to keep it that way.”

“...Thank you,” he heard her say.

“Hm?”

“Th-Thank you. I haven’t properly thanked you yet, have I?”

“Oh. Well, anytime. I’d do it again if I had to.” Simon opened his eyes to rub them with his free hand. Callie was lying next to him, also lying on her side and facing him. He smiled at her. She blushed and looked away.

“Ah, I see,” he said. “Sorry, but can we save this until after Akash?”

“Th-That’s what I was planning to do…”

“A relationship like that is not what you need right now. Anyway, How are you feeling?”

She let out a strained sigh. “I don’t know, anymore,” she murmured. “I know I just told you I’m fine, but now that we’re here… there’s nothing to distract me. I don’t know what I’m supposed to be feeling. I don’t know what’s normal. Or, no. I know that whatever it is, it’s not normal.”

“I think it’s safe to say that nobody in the NSS could be considered ‘normal.’ Don’t get too hung up on that. It doesn’t matter if it’s normal or not. It matters if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

“Well, great. Because I don’t know that either.”

“Think over it for a while.” Simon rolled until he was facing upwards and opened his eyes a crack. The sun wasn’t there to blind him, it was a little away from where his gaze was.

_ Am I giving advice to myself or her? _

Despite what he’d said, he still had his doubts about Grizzco. His name — albeit a fake one — was on the paperwork stating he was in charge and running the place. 

Simon was neither of those things. They used him like a pawn. He was the reason Akash Octrope’s name was one to know. 

_It matters if it’s a good thing or a bad thing._

Which was it? Would Akash have really killed Callie, or was she too important?

Octavio captured him first, then Callie. It was his original plan to give Simon the first pair of Inkling Hypno-shades, but then he got Callie. Simon assumed he was sidelined, more or less, once he got her.

The question was this: How high was Akash in whatever system of authority they had?

To actually have any grip on her, he’d either have to be pretty high up, almost at Octavio’s level, or not in it at all, so he could carry out the deed in secret and slip back into the shadows.

But, considering Octavio’s less-than-stellar opinion of Akash, the latter was more likely.

If he was to assume that wasn’t an empty threat, Akash had zero presence anywhere near the military. Which begged the question, how did he take over so quickly?

“Hey,” Callie said.

“Hm?”

“Do you remember Eileen?”

Eileen… “Yeah. That was the Octoling girl from Grizzco that tried to take Sid.”

“There was something off about her. Her and the other two. I think she called one Rocky, and the other Jack.”

He thought back to then. He had a similar feeling in the moment, but everything since had pushed it lower on his priority list.

Simon took a deep breath. “They spoke.”

By that, he didn’t mean they spoke the Inkling language. Most Octolings could. What he, and probably Callie, meant was that they made any noise with their mouths at all.

“Nothing was off about them,” Simon concluded, “they were the only normal ones. Everyone else we’ve seen so far, since Akash appeared, has been off.”

The common soldiers hadn’t acted normally. “Like a colony of ants…” Callie whispered, repeating an observation Marie had made days before.

They were this close to finding something out, but there was just one piece of evidence missing.

Perhaps they’d find it soon. But this was their day off.


	35. The Calm and the Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The opening scene here was not in the original project. Quite the oversight on my part, but hey, at least this means I’m getting better.  
On another note, I already have part of a sequel written for this story. It’s nothing like this story in terms of themes and tone, but I really like what I managed to write in it. I’ll wait until I have the rest of this rewrite up before I start posting that here. It’ll probably speed up soon in a few chapters. We’re close to where I first started paying attention to the small per details, so the “rewriting” is going to become more “polishing.”

"Hello, hello! What kind of we-"

Sheldon stopped himself as he turned around. This was no ordinary customer. Or, rather, this was no customer.

He scanned the store for any _actual _customers. There were none.

"Captain! What brings you to my shop today?"

"Do ye still have that bunker?" he said, scratching his chin. He hobbled closer as he lowered his voice.

"The one beneath Inkopolis Plaza?" he asked, squinting at the floor. "Well, it's hard to say I _have _it. It's quite far. But yes, I do have access to it."

"Can I ask ye to prepare it?"

Once more, Sheldon scanned the area. "For what?"

The captain shook his head. "This Akash boy destroyed our outpost. Not even Octavio went that far. I think that bunker will be handy if our backup becomes unusable."

Sheldon paused. "Captain. You're currently using your own house as this… 'backup,' correct?"

"Aye."

"You're expecting it to become… unusable, you said?"

"Aye."

"Captain…" Sheldon whispered. "You're telling me Akash is going to attack Inkopolis?"

"I only said we might need it," he echoed, raising his hand. "But we'd well be prepared."

"Eh… sure, Captain. I'll get on it tonight."

"One more thing," he said. "Do not let the four know anything about this."

"The four… Why not? I would think they would need to know. At least Agent 2, right?"

"No…" he said, "that may be bad for all of us."

—

"Yacht's on the move," Two reported, staring up at the hatch. "I'll get the Eagle running. We'll keep a distance from it so they don't see us. If this robo-fish is as big as you say, we'll spot it instantly. I'll blast some static through to you when something shows up."

"What'd you do, drop a brick on the controls?" asked Three.

"N...no," Four said, a bit sarcastically. "It's not like a car… you can just… eh, never mind." She turned around and hauled the Hero Splatling inside the Eagle's chest hatch. It was meant to be for Three's use; he had the Inkwhip, but it wasn't a great primary weapon with its subpar range. As a secondary, though, it was perfect.

The plan was deceptively simple: sacrifice a yacht to bait out the robot fish, attack with the Eagle.

That was the part that was predetermined. As it is with a fight, all the finer details have to be decided on the spot. So this was leagues more complex than it would initially seem.

The hatch shut, and the Eagle began to rise.

Callie took a moment to stretch as it took off. "Welp, we're stuck here for a few hours," she said. "I guess."

She sat down as it picked up speed. All of them were thinking the same thing: Would everything be fine while they were gone? The attack on the outpost… that was the first move anyone had ever done to directly attack the NSS. Everything beforehand, had either been in attack on something other than the NSS, or just in defense. Because as far as Octavio knew, he captured Callie, not Agent 1.

Akash had shown multiple times that he was more than willing to cross lines Octavio wouldn't. Where that would take the ongoing battle was yet to be seen.

* * *

An unholy noise sprung from One's pocket. That was the static signal Two was to send; the Golden Salmonid Eggs prevented anything else from coming through.

Three sprung up from his sitting position and put a foot on the incline of the chest's curve. The Eagle wasn't the best passenger vehicle; the inside, as they all knew, had nothing that suggested any intent of transporting people. What's more, there were no windows.

Unlike the driver's seat, there was no gyroscope to keep everything upright. To actually see anything outside, They had to crawl up onto the chest, and only after Two completely overturned it.

Luckily, the Eagle was capable of doing just that.

The slow yet sure rotation began. The three walked so as to not tumble down when their sitting ponts became too steep.

"Let's see what this robot fish is, then," Four whispered to herself.

Rose had a little bit of a background with sailors. Her father was one, and would sometimes take her on some of the smaller trips.

Recently, however, word had reached her ears of a giant fish attacking stray ships. This word had come from her father, no less, and when she looked into it, there were nothing more than rumors. Nothing had been confirmed; the only stories had been told by people that went near the Restricted Zone. That number was small, and not many were considered trustworthy.

At this point, though, a rumor might as well be a lead to chase.

The Eagle finished its 180 degree turn, leaving the now-open hatch at the top. It slowed down and lowered, effectively turning itself into a platform. Four fired a path up the wall and onto the ceiling. She took the honor of going first.

As Four climbed onto the chest and shielded her eyes from the sunlight and wind, she scanned the area.

The yacht was still there, and in one piece, no less. But the focal point of the image was elsewhere.

As it turned out, those rumors were based quite heavily in reality.

A usual rumor exaggerated the details, but in this case, it seemed the details weren't exaggerated enough. The "giant" robot fish went beyond "giant" and into the "colossal" territory. Lengthwise, it was longer than the Eagle, and the half of it still under water seemed to mean it matched the Eagle's height when parked and standing.

A row of weaponry lined the side in an arc. None of them seemed to be the same as any other. Some were simple nozzles, some larger openings that resembled cannons, and a few that looked more like sideways fountains than anything.

There was an eye — or, at least something resembling an eye — at its front, and a large tail fin, about the height of the rest of it, at the back. A bulging pair of what appeared to be lips decorated the side with the eye.

The yacht, still moving, sailed parallel to the fish as if nothing was wrong.

"How in the hell do we do something about that?" Four gasped. "There's no…" she trailed off, but her message still went through. There were no glowing yellow spots to fire at. They couldn't take it down by just tearing off a tiny piece and letting it flood.

Its body was seamless, save the various sturdy-looking weapons. One of them, a cannon-like one, fired, and a simple bomb popped out of it. It tumbled around on the yacht's deck, and then exploded, leaving nothing but some new color.

"Four," Three began. "Can I borrow those?" He pointed at her Dualies, in her hands.

She looked at him, raised an eyebrow, then tossed them over. "Sure. Don't lose 'em."

"I don't plan to…" he said, firing one hand at the floor. At the same time, he kicked the Splatling back inside the Eagle.

The fish, meanwhile, kept up its slow progression with the yacht. It moved on to more aggressive tactics and started spraying ink onto its deck. And yet, the yacht kept moving.

"Hey." That was Two, clearer this time since the Eggs were out of the way. "I'll try shooting at it from in here. Can you get back inside?"

Four, shrugging, turned her back on the spectacle. "Roger that," she sighed. She dropped in, then One followed, cutting off the connection.

Slowly, the hatch closed, darkening the area. The Eagle spun around again, and picked up a little bit of speed. They followed the rotation, then settled down again.

"Hold up," Four muttered. "Is Three still out there?"

* * *

"I'm still out here," said a voice from Two's pocket. "Just thought I'd let you know."

Two grimaced. "Huh?"

"I thought I'd get an extra viewpoint. To look for the entrance. I didn't see any earlier, and I doubt it'd be the bottom."

The Eagle adopted another stance, the upright one.

"Anyway, can you not shake me off?"

"I'll do my best," Two muttered, annoyed. She aimed the Eagle's leg, the one with the Sting Ray, where the fish's head should've been. "Though, depending on how this goes, I can't make any promises." And then she fired. And kept firing.

…It wasn't reacting at all.

Squinting, Two changed the angle and had the foot move the Sting Ray closer to the back. That's when it reacted.

First, it stopped its barrage on the yacht. It backed up, buying a few seconds before the Sting Ray reached any farther back, and tilted backwards, leaving water dripping off the bulbous mouth.

Two braved herself for its next action, keeping her eyes on the mouth.

The lips parted, and showed a gaping hole inside. Light reflected off of something in there. It looked vaguely like… another cannon.

She ceased her fire and went on the move. It didn't matter which direction, she just needed to get _away_.

Seconds later, another Sting Ray blasted the area the Eagle was just at. Two wiped her face of sweat and turned the Eagle back around.

The fish cut off the Sting Ray and closed its mouth like it was a visor.

"See anything?" she asked Three.

"Maybe," he said. "Get a little closer."

The yacht was far away now. Just a little purple speck on the horizon.

Tilting back to how it was before, the fish started diving.

"Shoot," Two said.

That was bad. Not only would their passage to the SRC get away, they'd up the security on both it and the fish.

It was then that she committed to an insane idea.

She herself dove, mentally apologizing to her teammates for the rough ride. When she was level with the fish, she stopped, parallel to the ocean, and flew.

Two, putting all her focus into doing the least damage possible, soared headfirst towards the side of the fish. Again, she felt sorry for her teammates, but this was the best thing she could think of.

Moments before impact, she pulled the Eagle up, aiming to only hit it with its legs.

It definitely hit _something_.

Two jerked forwards in her seat and could only imagine what was happening in the chest. It was a good thing Inklings were very resistant to impact.

But then she felt the Eagle slowing down. Despite the thrusters guiding it upwards, it wasn't going anywhere. Surprised, she leaned towards the side to see what had happened.

One of the Eagle's talons had gotten hooked to a weapon on the side. Though the fish was trying to descend, and the Eagle to ascend, neither were moving at all.

* * *

Three took the slowdown as an opportunity to push himself off the Eagle's chest and fall. He caught some motion in his eye — the mouth was opening again, undoubtedly to shake off Two and the Eagle by firing at them once more.

He shielded his eyes from the sunlight reflecting off the ocean, dove straight for the submarine, fired a few shots from Rose's Dualies onto the submarine's shining backside, and made his landing into the pool of ink, skidding until he came to a stop above the end of the row of weaponry.

It didn't take much thought to realize that this was the most reckless thing he had ever done.

He checked to make sure the Inkwhip was in its place by his hip — it was — then took off towards the front of the Piranha. There were no traditional entrances on this robot, that was for sure. So he had to look for the nontraditional ones.

Three's best guess was the now-opened mouth.

As he reached the part where it began to curve downwards, he fired a path straight for the head and slid down. To his dismay, the mouth began to shut. He fired again, extending the path. The bottom lip became his target. If he could at least touch it, he could push himself inside.

Three slid off the top lip like he was ski jumping. He stumbled as he toppled off, not expecting it to be as slippery as the rest of it. It looked rubbery, a huge contrast to the metal.

Nevertheless, he kicked his leg backwards and hit the top lip instead. That slowed him down enough to fire the Dualies, using the recoil to push himself backwards.

He slipped inside, and the lips closed, plunging him into total darkness.


	36. Rise from the Depths, Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter split here. Every “Part 1, Part 2” thing I’ve done so far was always a chapter split.
> 
> Anyway, there's not much to say about this one that isn’t said in the chapter itself.

"Three, you there?" Rather than the communicator, Two's voice came from his headset. "Does this work better for you?"

"Much," he whispered. "See anything from up there?"

"...No," she said, hesitantly. "It's underwater."

"Great. I'll keep you updated."

There was a dim light inside the hopefully watertight contraption. It seemed it was divided into rooms — there was no way this semi-small area was all there was inside.

The only thing of note was the Sting Ray, the one that fired at the Eagle. It was bolted to the metal floor, and resembled a short tower about his height, with a ball and socket joint allowing it to aim.

Even though it couldn't possibly have a clear shot at the Eagle anymore, it was still moving.

Three dove behind the mounted Sting Ray and crouched next to it as it rotated. Three followed the rotation, keeping sure to stay behind it. He placed a hand on the Inkwhip by his waist and used the other to keep a grip on the Dualies.

The Sting Ray changed directions, prompting him to do the same.

A few more rounds of that, and it finally aimed directly up. It started to descend into the floor.

In one swift movement, Three pressed the Inkwhip in front of the nozzle and turned it on. The ink slithered inside and wrecked it from within. The Sting Ray fizzled, let a few sparks fly as it extended out of the floor again, and then became still.

He scanned the room. There didn't seem to be any more threats, so he relaxed his shoulders and circled his neck.

Circumstances placed him in here alone, so he'd have to make do alone. The other three had quick access to him, but he assumed Two'd be the one keeping him company.

"Sting Ray disabled," he said. "I'm heading further in now."

Just to be sure, he flipped the Inkwhip on and off again in front of the mounted weapon.

An open pathway, resembling a small tunnel, beckoned, going further inside towards the back. And the back was where they had agreed the control room would be, or at least somewhere other than the very front. Three shrugged and went on through.

Odd. Either there _was _a back entrance, or someone had to waltz on over through the entire thing every time they had to start it up.

Knowing the Octarians, it could be either. The kinds of design choices they made were uncannily polarized. There were the genius moves, and then there were the… questionable. Akash Octrope seemed to have pushed things towards the former, though.

There were no lights in the tunnel, just ones in the rooms on either side. He tried to keep his approach hushed, but the metal flooring and his boots wouldn't permit that.

He kept up his march, and came to the end of the tunnel. It opened up into a very tall area.

Was this the control room yet?

As he took a good look around, it was easy to see that no, it was not.

What _was_ easy to see was that he had a battle coming his way.

A spiral stretched to the top of the room, like there was a gigantic screw supposed to fit in. He could see three Octolings at the top peering down at him like bored children at a zoo enclosure.

The worst part? None of them had sunglasses.

There was only once other place he had seen that since getting freed: Grizzco. And it seemed he was face-to-face with the same three he encountered there. The middle one, the only girl, was named Eileen, if he was correct.

"You were at Grizzco!" he shouted. His goal there was to keep them on edge, though with such a shallow statement, it was unlikely. He was talking mainly to Eileen — of the three, it seemed she was the most likely commander.

Eileen looked down at him, puzzled. "I was… at Grizzco. Is that a big reveal or something?"

Three cranked up his microphone sensitivity. On the off chance he wouldn't be able to get out of the Piranha, at least the rest of the team would have whatever he could squeeze out of this.

Eileen squinted at him. "I… You… I've seen you before. Not just there at Grizzco."

Yeah, like that narrowed things down. Nearly every Octoling soldier had seen him at some point at least once, even if it was just a photo.

"Now that I can look at you without any distractions… You were there…" Eileen continued. "You're Agent 3, aren't you? That was _you_, with the other one at Grizzco that one time?"

He grit his teeth.

She pressed a finger to her forehead. "Of course it was you. Of course it was. I knew it was the NSS, and you're the only male member… ugh."

"Two, is she getting through?" he mumbled to her.

"Perfectly."

Eileen turned to her side and began descending the ramp. "I'll go ahead and assume you heard everything I told your spy. You know my name. Eileen."

He got it, then.

"You heard the story, how three people lost their sister? I still remember that day, you know. That was me, and these guys next to me. Our sister's gone, and you're why."

_One day, earlier this year, the youngest went… missing._

That's what she said, to Sid as Rocky and Jack were running to hold him. Shoot. He was dealing with a whole family, and they had a reason to go all out. He didn't know who this sister they were talking about was, but it was easy to see this was bad. "What's your connection to Octrope?!" He shouted up to her. Changing the subject when the conversation went wrong applied in battle as well.

And in doing this, he'd find out why she and her group are exempt from the shades.

"Does it really matter if you knew that." Her voice fell flat. "I could tell you anything about me. It wouldn't matter. It doesn't matter who knows this. You can't use it against me or anyone. You remember Rocky and Jack? The two next to me? They're no pushovers.

The two next to her…?

Yes, they were "Rocky and Jack." So the two soldiers she sent after Sid were her brothers The whole time.

She continued. "Let me tell you a few things. A, you can't get to me with another Octoling. Every single Octoling soldier that isn't me or my brothers is under the effects of the…" She looked away. "Hypno-Shades." She grimaced and slowed down as she said those last words. "Not even I like that part, but it's necessary."

"Did you get that?" Three whispered, moving his mouth as little as possible.

"Y-Yeah," Two said. "But… really? Every single one?"

Two had a point. That was insane, that was enslavement. Of an entire race! Could Octrope not find any support, and had to go to measures that extreme?"

"B, I don't exist, according to Inkopolis. You can't hunt me down above ground."

That was a given. No Octoling existed to Inkopolis, not even Marina. To the city, and to the world, she was just an exotic-looking Inkling.

"C, I'm much more 'connected' to 'Octrope' than you think. Because _I'm_ Octrope."

"_What_?" Two shouted. Three scowled, only considering the implications of what she had just said.

"Eileen Octrope. The guy you're talking about is our father."

"She can't be serious…" Two trailed off.

"Anyway, that's enough." Smirking, Eileen raised her arm, with the one and only Hero Shot in her hand.

Three lowered the microphone sensitivity again. "They've got our Hero weapons," he relayed.

One of his enemies sprinted off the spiral and plummeted.

High ground would be invaluable in this environment, especially for him. Going three-on-one, he had to have a way to keep them all in check. Since swimming up the wall was inefficient, and it would be even more so with a rain of bullets and bombs stopping them.

The problem was, that went the other way as well.

First, he'd have to take care of the one that was dropping to him. Whether that was Rocky or Jack, he didn't know, but he spotted the Hero Brush falling parallel to him, which he held to him with his arm.

In this matchup, range would be the deciding factor. Before he even hit the ground, Three opened fire, one Dualie in each hand. His enemy shielded himself from every shot with the Brush, then swung it outwards as he hit the floor.

Another volley of shots came at him from above — no doubt from the Hero Shot. Between the wide Brush swing and the overhead danger, there was only one place to dodge: duck under the Brush's attack and move forwards.

That, however, would bring him much closer to the Brush itself.

Smart move, he had to admit.

Before rolling to his front, he threw a bomb upwards. He rolled, then the ink from the Hero Shot landed on the floor, leaving it purple. His bomb fell back down, and detonated, covering the purple spot with a nice green.

Three aimed at the end of the Brush and fired, buying him enough time to roll away. The problem lay in the distance, once again. The Brush user actually backed up in that time frame.

Now, why would he do that?

"Hey," Three said, running in a wide arc around him. "You gonna approach?"

He kept silent.

Either he was being too cautious, or he knew that Three still had the Inkwhip. If he had to guess, it was the latter.

"I gotcha." Three stopped, casually stood still and fired one Dualie at him while holstering the other. The slow, yet constant fire would keep him on his toes.

Another volley of shots rained down on him. He jumped away.

With his free hand, Three tossed a bomb to him. He hit it back with the Brush, sending a splash of ink with it.

Splat Bombs didn't explode until they touched the ground. It was Three's color, so he was effectively immune, but that meant he had another chance to use it. The bomb was first, then the purple ink, so he swiped it out of the air with his hand.

He dodged more rain from above and took the time to reload. With the bomb still in hand, he threw it upwards and readied another one. The second bomb, he rolled to his feet. Three caught the first and threw it to his enemy's left, while firing to his right. Three swam through the path he'd been building, to his enemy's right side.

The Brush user backed away from the first bomb, most of his focus being on it. He swatted the second one away.

Three was ready to rise from the ink and let the Inkwhip do the rest.

But then more ink fell on the path.

He slowed down momentarily, and his enemy noticed him. Determined not to lose his chance, he jumped out of the pool and fired, drawing the Brush to block it. At the same time, he turned on the Inkwhip and threw it like a disc. It spun around, outstretched in a near perfect line, and hit its target from behind, clattering on the floor. Three kicked the Brush towards a dry spot on the floor, and made a mental note to pick it up later.

One down.


	37. Chapter 37

“...You’re seriously lucky we installed a regeneration pad in here,” Eileen said. “I don’t know what I would have done, worst-case scenario.”

Three cautiously backed up, into an area from which he could see her. She was alone now, it seemed. Nobody was standing by her shoulder anymore.

“They’re both by the control room, if that’s what you’re wondering. I sent one of them over, and… I guess it was you who sent the other.”

“What is it Akash Octrope is aiming for?” Three yelled, beginning to ascend the ramp. She was out of his view, but he would easily hear if she was to try anything. These floors were anything but quiet. Once again, he raised his microphone sensitivity.

“Please. Do you think I have an obligation to tell you anything? Not like it’d change much.” She exaggerated a sigh. “Here’s your problem: you keep fighting to learn just a little bit more. But none of it can help you. You find our plans, we change them. You learn our motives, so what?”

He kept walking up the ramp. “You underestimate what we can do. You don’t know how close we are to a breakthrough.”

“I know exactly how close you are.”

He grit his teeth. Her voice didn’t show any sign of feigning confidence.

“Let’s see, what do you know? Father’s missing three limbs, we’ve been holding Inkling prisoners, we run Grizzco… Among other things, but those are the major ones. The first’s pretty inconsequential to you and the third’s definitely not your main focus anymore, but the second… yeah, I’ll stop there.”

“Wh...what?” Two said. “What does she mean ‘she'll stop there’?”

“You have the Eagle, and you’re trying to get your hands on this one, too. We call it the Piranha, by the way.”

Piranha. He committed that name to memory.

“I don’t think I’ll win this, but here we go. I need to gauge your skill  _somehow_.”

Eileen Octrope groaned deeply, and jumped off the top of the spiral ramp. 

In relation to Three, she was right above him. He pivoted and ran down, knowing she’d have the Hero Shot with her. There should only be one stream of ink to dodge, and he could adjust his movement accordingly—

The unmistakable sound from a Blaster shot rang behind him.

Change of plans. Lowering his microphone to spare Two’s ears, and skidding to a halt, he went back to studying the falling Eileen, just to see exactly what he was up against.

In her left hand, she still had the Hero Shot, alright. But in her right sat the Hero Blaster, with its pulsing blue lights. She had two weapons, one for each hand.

He supposed he wouldn’t have to worry about her making use of the Brush he left at the bottom. Both of her hands were occupied, and sacrificing both the Shot and Blaster just for a single weapon that would put her at a severe disadvantage wasn’t the best battle plan.

Three held his arms in a cross in front of him, blocking the explosion radius of another blast, then lowered them as he heard something hit the floor right below him, on the ramp. Eileen, no doubt.

He ran in a direction, which happened to be down the ramp. Another Blaster Shot rose up to where he was and popped.

They kept coming, and he kept running. Eventually, he pivoted and ran in the other direction, back up.

“You’re holding back,” Eileen droned. She muttered something in Octarian.

He felt floor beneath him tilting inwards. Though, as far as he could see, the room looked exactly the same.

And that, Three realised, was where her advantage lied. The whole battlefield was a submarine under her command.

The Blaster kept up its assault, covering his front, and he didn’t have time to head to a more stable area of the ramp without losing his proximity to Eileen to keep her in check.

Three clasped a bomb between the Dualies and jumped backwards off the ramp between blasts. Knowing Eileen was below him, he immediately pushed both triggers. As he fell, he lifted his foot, and as the next bullet flew at him, he kicked the bomb from between his hands. 

It blocked the shot before it made it halfway to him, and spun as it toppled to the floor,

Eileen lifted her other hand, and fired from both weapons at once, but by then, Three was almost out of range. He took a few hits, but nothing major.

Eileen was holding on to a bar with her foot, keeping her from falling with him. The room had nearly tilted 45 degrees by then. Then it started tilting back. 

That display was to get him to sacrifice his high ground, and to give some to Eileen.

The Inkwhip was now benched, at least until he could get up close again. And the Dualies’ subpar range didn’t make anything easier…

To his surprise, she ran towards the center and leapt down herself, firing as she plunged. Without stopping to weigh the merits of that decision, he answered with a volley of his own. He could just barely reach her, but some of the shots, especially with the Blaster’s bulk, she easily deflected.

She landed in a pool of her ink, and jumped out again, scowling.

Three rolled forwards, then left. He lifted his arms to fire, then-

Eileen kicked him. Wait, no, it didn’t connect. All it hit was the Inkwhip by his waist, sending it tumbling to the other side of the room. She was trying to push him away, but only managed to hit the Inkwhip, it seemed.

He could chase after it, saving one of his best weapons, but he wasn’t about to lose the chance he had. He holstered his right Dualie.

The only weapon pointing at him was the Blaster, since the Shot was in her other hand. Eileen hit the floor, and Three dodged a blast, hearing it explode behind him. Crying out, he punched the Blaster upwards. She kept her grip on it, and it only changed its angle to aim above his head.

As the Hero Shot went back to firing at him, he jumped, though not so high as to place himself directly in front of the Blaster’s barrel. The Hero Shot’s fire sailed under him, and he fired downwards. He reached his free hand upwards to hook his hand on the pole on top of the Blaster. Gravity did its work, and his weight wrenched the Blaster out of her hand, which he took into the ink and a good distance away from her. On his way, he retrieved the Inkwhip.

He rose up, and noticed Eileen hadn’t moved at all from where she was. Without breaking eye contact, he attached the Blaster to his ink tank, and detached it. There was another weapon retrieved. That left the Slosher, Brella…

And the Hero Shot, the one right in front of him.

Next plan, just keep up the assault. A Dualie and Blaster didn’t make the best combo, but he’d have to make do.

“Yeah, I’m done,” Eileen said. Smirking, she let go of the Shot. She started backing up as it hit the floor and put her hands up.

Three braced himself. He looked left, right, behind him, up, down, keeping Eileen in his peripheral vision. Nothing… nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

“Congratulations, Agent 3, you won the Piranha. I’m not winning this, so here.”

Still, everything was normal. Which made him even more wary of whatever stunt she — or one of her brothers — would try.

Two chimed in. “Three, it’s breaking the surface. You’re above sea level.”

He took a cautious step forward. Nothing. Another one, and still nothing. So he sprinted after Eillen, and passed the Hero Shot on the floor. 

He fired the Blaster, and just as the shot got close, she super jumped to the top of the ramp. 

“Your sailor should be able to get the Piranha moving,” she said as she landed out of sight. “But I’m warning you now. You don’t want to go to the Salmonid Research Center.”

* * *

“One, Four, get ready to infiltrate.”

The gyroscope in the Eagle’s cockpit thankfully kept Two from being overturned when she rotated the rest of it, but it did give her less of a view of everything below. One of the few things she could see was that the submarine was dangerously close to shore. 

Even though they were clearly nowhere near Inkopolis anymore, a train track ran straight through a mountain a little farther in, and only a single person seeing the Eagle — never mind a hundred — could be horrible.

So she was gonna make this quick. Drop off One and Four, then fly away.

“We’re off, Two,” Four said. That was true, there were two more figures on top of the submarine.

Two exhaled, flipped the Eagle back around, and soared out to sea.

“How’s it looking, Three?” she said.

“They escaped,” he said, flatly. “I can’t tell where they’re going from here.”

“Leave them. I don’t doubt they have an overcomplicated escape plan. Anyway, they’re not our target right now,” she replied. “Even though they really should be…” she muttered to herself. The one reason Octrope’s children weren’t their current plan of attack was because they just found out about the connection between Eileen and Akash.

“Eileen mentioned the Research Center by name.” That was relayed to all three of them. “Specifically to tell us to not go there. So, of course, we’re going there, and then we’ll go after the other Octropes.”

There was definitely something more to it than the egg storage. Their original decision was to infiltrate and sabotage the egg supply to put a hamper on their tech, but they’d have to stick around for more than that.

Other than that, too much was said in their skirmish. She’d have to discuss all of it with the team later.

The whole point with Eileen’s sister, something involving the Inkling prisoners, and… every Octoling being under their direct control.

It was deeply disturbing, that a single family became an elite unit by bending the wills of their whole species. If that was the case, almost nobody was to blame.

It seemed that their pool of true enemies shrank to four. 


End file.
